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* 







THE 'BUS RATTLED ALONG AS THEY NEARED THIRTY- 
FOURTH STREET. 


Dorothy Dale in the City 


Page 122 


DOROTHY DALE IN 
THE CITY 


MARGARET PENRSOE 


AUTHOR OF “ DOROTHY DALE I A GIRL OF TO-DAY,” u DOROTHY 
DALE AND HER CHUMS,” “ DOROTHY DALEYS CAMPING 
DAYS,” “ THE MOTOR GIRLS,” " THE MOTOR 
GIRLS THROUGH NEW ENGLAND,” ETC. 


ILLUSTRATED 





NEW YORK 

CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY 


BOOKS BY MARGARET PENROSE 


THE DOROTHY DALE SERIES 

i2mo. Illustrated. Price, per volume, 60 Cents, 
postpaid 

DOROTHY DALE: A GIRL OF TO-DAY 
DOROTHY DALE AT GLENWOOD SCHOOL 
DOROTHY DALE’S GREAT SECRET 
DOROTHY DALE AND HER CHUMS 
DOROTHY DALE’S QUEER HOLIDAYS 
DOROTHY DALE’S CAMPING DAYS 
DOROTHY DALE’S SCHOOL RIVALS 
DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


THE MOTOR GIRLS SERIES 

i2mo. Illustrated. Price, per volume, 60 Cents, 
postpaid 

THE MOTOR GIRLS 
THE MOTOR GIRLS ON A TOUR 
THE MOTOR GIRLS AT LOOKOUT BEACH 
THE MOTOR GIRLS THROUGH NEW 
ENGLAND 

THE MOTOR GIRLS ON CEDAR LAKE 
THE MOTOR GIRLS ON THE COAST 
Cupples & Leon Co., Publishers, New York 


Copyrfgflt, 1913, by 
CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Almost Christmas . i 

II. Going Home io 

III. “ Get a Horse ! ” 24 

IV. A Real Beauty Bath 35 

V. Dorothy's Protege 41 

VI. The Night Before Christmas ..... 52 

VII. Real Ghosts 61 

VIII. The Aftermath 68 

IX. Just Dales 76 

X. Sixty Miles an Hour 85 

XI. A Hold-On in New York 100 

XII. Human Freight on the Dummy .... 108 

XIII. The Shopping Tour 118 

XIV. The Dress Parade 132 

XV. Tea in a Stable 138 

XVI. A Startling Discovery . . 149 

XVII. Tavia's Resolve 162 

XVIII. Dangerous Ground 170 

XIX. Thick Ice and Thin 179 

XX. A Thickened Plot 187 

XXI. Fright and Courage 192 

XXII. Captured By Two Girls 204 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAGE 

XXIII. Pathos and Poverty 213 

XXIV. A Young Reformer 222 

XXV. The Loving Cup 233 

XXVI. A New Collector 242 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


CHAPTER I 

ALMOST CHRISTMAS 

Neither books, papers nor pencils were to be 
seen in the confused mass of articles, piled high, 
if not dry, in the rooms of the pupils of Glenwood 
Hall, who were now packing up to leave the board- 
ing school for the Christmas holidays. 

“ Going home is so very different from leaving 
home,” remarked Dorothy Dale, as she plunged a 
knot of unfolded ribbons into the tray of her 
trunk. “ I’m always ashamed to face my things 
when I unpack.” 

“ Don’t,” advised Tavia. “I never look at 
mine until they have been scattered on the floor 
for a few days. Then they all look like a fire 
sale,” and she wound her tennis shoes inside a per- 
fectly helpless lingerie waist. 

“ I don’t see why we bring parasols in Septem- 
ber to take them back in Christmas snows,” went 

I *v . 


2 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


on Dorothy. u I have a mind to give this to 
Betty,” and she raised the flowery canopy over her 
head. 

“ Oh, don’t ! ” begged Tavia. “ Listen ! That’s 
bad luck!” 

“Which?” asked Dorothy, “the parasol or 
Betty?” 

“Neither,” replied Tavia. “ But the fact that 
; I hear Ned’s voice. Also the clatter of Cologne’s 
heavy feet. That means the plunge — our very 
last racket.” 

“ I hope you take the racket out of this room,” 
said Dorothy, “ for I have same Christmas cards 
to get off.” 

“ Let us in ! ” called a voice on the outer side 
of the door. “We’ve got good news.” 

“Only news?” asked Tavia. “We have lots 
of that ourselves. Make it something more sub- 
stantial.” 

“Hurry!” begged the voice of Edna Black, 
otherwise known as Ned Ebony. “We’ll be 
caught ! ” 

Tavia brought herself to her feet from the Turk- 
ish mat as if she were on springs. Then she 
opened the door cautiously. 

“ What is it ? ” she demanded. “ Is it alive ? ” 

“ It was once,” replied Edna, “ but it isn’t now.” 

The giggling at the door was punctuated with a 
struggle. 


ALMOST CHRISTMAS 


3 


“ Oh, let us in I ” insisted Cologne, and pushed 
past Tavia. 

“ Mercy! ” exclaimed Dorothy. “Whatever is 
this?” 

The two newcomers were now in a heap on the 
floor, or rather were in a heap on a feather bed 
they had dragged into the room with them. Quick 
to scent fun, Tavia turned the key in the door. 

“The old darling!” she murmured. “Where 
did the naughty girls get you? ” and she attempted 
to caress the feather tick in which Edna and Col- 
ogne nestled. 

“ That’s Miss Mingle’s feather bed! ” declared 
Dorothy. “ Wherever did you get it? ” 

“ Mingling with other things getting packed! ” 
replied Edna, “ and I haven’t seen a little bundle 
of the really fluffy-duffy kind since they sent me to 
grandma’s when I had the measles. Isn’t it 
lovely? ” 

“ No wonder she sleeps well,” remarked Tavia, 
trying to push Cologne off the heap. “ I could 
take an eternal rest on this.” 

“But why was it out in the hall?” questioned 
Dorothy. “ I know Miss Mingle has a weak hip 
and has to sleep on a soft bed, always.” 

“ Her room was being made over, and she want- 
ed to see it all alone before she left. She is going 
to-morrow,” said Edna. 

“And to-night?” asked Dorothy. 


4 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


“She must have a change,” declared Edna, in- 
nocently, “ and we thought an ordinary mattress 
would be — more sanitary.” 

“You cannot hide her bed in here,” objected 
Dorothy. “You must take it back.” 

“Take back the bed that thou gavest!” sang 
Tavia, gaily. “ How could I part with thee so 
soon ! ” 

“ We did not intend to hide it here, Doro,” said 
Cologne. “ We had no idea of incriminating you. 
There is a closet in the hall. But just now there 
are also tittle-tattles in the hall. We are only 
biding a-wee.” 

“Oh, it’s leaking!” exclaimed Edna, as she 
blew a bunch of feathery down at Dorothy. 
“ What shall we do ? ” 

“ Get it back as soon as you can,” advised Doro- 
thy. “ Let me peek out ! ” 

Silence fell as Dorothy cautiously put her head 
out of the door. “No one in sight,” she whis- 
pered. “ Now is your time.” 

Quietly the girls gathered themselves up. Tav- 
ia took the end of the bed where the “ leak ” was. 
Out in the hall they paused. 

“The old feather be — ed ! 

The de — ar feather be — ed ! 

The rust-covered be — ed that hung 
in the hall!” 


ALMOST CHRISTMAS 


5 

It was Tavia who sang. Then with one jerk 
she pushed the bed over the banister! 

“ Oh ! ” gasped Edna and Cologne, simultan- 
eously. 

“ Mercy ! ” came a cry from below. “ What- 
ever is ” 

They heard no more. Inside the room again 
the girls scampered. 

“ Right on the very head of Miss Mingle ! ” 
whispered Edna, horror-stricken. “Now we are 
in for it! ” 

“ But she needed it,” said Tavia, in her absurd 
way of turning a joke into kindness. “I was afraid 
she wouldn’t find it.” 

“Better be afraid she does not find you,” said 
Dorothy. “ Miss Mingle is a dear, but she won’t 
like leaky feather beds dropped on her.” 

“Well, I suppose we will all have to stand for 
it,” sighed Edna, “though land knows we never 
intended to decapitate the little music teacher. 
And she has a weak spine! Tavia Travers, how 
could you ? ” 

“You saw how simple it was,” replied Tavia, 
purposely misunderstanding the other. “ But do 
you suppose we have killed her? I don’t hear a 
sound ! ” 

“Sounds are always smothered in feathers,” 
said Cologne. “ Dorothy, can’t you get the story 
ready? How did the accident happen?” 


6 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


44 Too busy,” answered Dorothy. “ Besides, I 
warned you.” 

44 Now, Doro ! And this the last day ! ” 

“ Oh, please ! ” chimed in the others. 

“ I absolutely refuse to fix it up,” declared Doro- 
thy. 44 I begged you to relent, and now ” 

44 Hush ! It came to ! I hear it coming further 
to! ” exclaimed Cologne. 44 Doro, hide me! ” 

A rush in the outer hall described the approach 
of more than one girl. In fact there must have 
been at least five in the dash that banged the door 
of Number Nineteen. 

44 Come on ! ” 

44 Hide!” 

44 Face it!” 

44 Feathers ! ” 

44 Mingle!” 

Some of the words were evidently intended to 
mean more. Snow was scattered about from out of 
door things, rubbers were thrust off hastily, and 
the girls, delighted with the prospect of a real 
row, were radiant with a mental steam that threat- 
ened every human safety valve. 

44 Girls, do be quiet!” begged Dorothy, 44 and 
tell us what happened to that feather bed.” 

44 Nothing,” replied Nita, 44 it happened to Min- 
gle. She is just now busy trying to get the quills 
out of her throat with a bottle brush. Betty sug- 
gested the brush.” 


ALMOST CHRISTMAS 


7 


“And the hall looks like a feather foundry,” 
imparted Genevieve. “ Mrs. Pangborn is looking 
for someone’s scalp.” 

“ There ! I hear the court martial summons ! ” 
exclaimed Edna. “ Tavia ! You did it.” 

The footfall in the hall this time was decided 
and not clattery. It betokened the coming of a 
teacher. 

A tap at the door came next. Dorothy scram- 
bled over the excited girls, and finally reached the 
portal. 

“ The principal would like to have the young 
ladies from this room report in the office at once,” 
said the strident voice of Miss Higley, the Eng- 
lish teacher. “ She is very much annoyed at the 
misconduct that appeared to come from Room 
Nineteen.” 

“ Yes,” faltered Dorothy, for no one else 
seemed to know how to find her tongue. “ There 
was — an accident. The girls will go to the office.” 

After the teacher left the girls gave full vent to 
their choking sensations. Tavia rolled off the 
couch, Edna covered her own head in Dorothy’s 
best sofa cushion, Cologne drank a glass of water 
that Tavia intended to drink, and altogether things- 
were brisk in Number Nineteen. 

“We might as well have it over with,” Edna 
said, patting the sofa cushion into shape. “I’ll 
confess to the finding of the plaguey thing.” 


8 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


“ Come on then,” ordered Dorothy, and the 
others meekly followed her into the hall. 

They were but one flight up, and as they looked 
over the banister they saw below Miss Mingle, 
Mrs. Pangborn and several others. 

“ Oh ! ” gasped Tavia, “ they are sprouting pin 
feathers ! ” 

“ Young ladies ! ” cried Mrs. Pangborn. “What 
does this mean? ” 

They trooped down. But before they reached 
the actual scene of the befeathered hall, a messen- 
ger was standing beside Miss Mingle, and the 
music teacher was reading a telegram. 

“ I must leave at once ! ” she said. “ Please, 
Mrs. Pangborn, excuse the young ladies! Come 
with me to the office ! I must arrange everything 
at once ! I have to get the evening train ! ” 

“You must go at once?” queried the head of 
the school, in some surprise. 

“Yes! yes! instantly! Oh, this is awful!” 
groaned the music teacher. “ Come, please do ! ” 
And she hurried off, and Mrs. Pangborn went 
after her. 

“Just luck!” whispered Tavia, as she scam- 
pered after the others, who quickly hurried to 
more comfortable quarters. “ But what do you 
suppose ails Mingle?” 

“ Maybe someone proposed to her,” suggested 
Edna, “ and she was afraid he might relent.” 


ALMOST CHRISTMAS 


9 


But little did Dorothy and her chums think how 
important the message to the teacher would prove 
to be to themselves, before the close of the Christ- 
mas holidays. 


CHAPTER II 


GOING HOME 

“ Did you ever see anything so dandy?” asked 
Tavia. “ I think we girls should subscribe to the 
telegraph company. There is nothing like a 
quick call to get us out of a scrape.” 

“Don’t boast, we are not away yet,” returned 
Dorothy. 

“ But I would like to see anything stop me now,” 
argued Tavia. “ There’s the trunk and there’s the 
grip. Now a railroad ticket to Dalton — dear old 
Dalton ! Doro, I wish you were coming to see the 
snow on Lenty Lane. It makes the place look 
grand.” 

“Lenty Lane was always pretty,” corrected 
Dorothy. “ I have very pleasant remembrances of 
the place.” 

The girls were at the railroad station, waiting 
for the train that was to take them away from 
school for the holidays. There were laughter and 
merry shouts, promises to write, to send cards, 
and to do no end of “ remembering.” 

10 


GOING HOME 


ii 


And, while this is going on, and while the girls 
are so occupied in this that they are not likely 
to do anything else, I will take just a few moments 
to tell my new readers something about the char- 
acters in this story. 

The first book of this series was called “Dorothy 
Dale ; A Girl of To-Day,” and in that, Dorothy, of 
course, made her bow. She was the daughter of 
Major Dale, of Dalton, and, though without a 
mother, she had two loving brothers, Joe and 
Roger. Besides these she had a very dear friend 
in Tavia Travers, and Tavia, when she was not 
doing or saying one thing, was doing or saying 
another — in brief, Tavia was a character. 

In the tale is told how Dorothy learned of the 
unlawful detention of a poor little girl, and how 
she and Tavia took Nellie away from a life of 
misery. 

“ Dorothy Dale at Glenwood School,” my 
second volume, told how our heroine made her 
appearance at boarding school, where she spent so 
many happy days, and where she still is when the 
present story opens. And as for Tavia, she went, 
too, thanks to the good offices of some of her 
chum’s friends. 

Glenwood School was a peculiar place in many 
ways, and for a time Dorothy was not happy there, 
owing to the many cliques and mutual jealousies. 
But the good sense of Dorothy, and some of the 


12 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 

madcap pranks of Tavia, worked out to a good 
end. 

There is really a mystery in my third volume — 
that entitled “Dorothy Dale’s Great Secret.” It 
was almost more than Dorothy could bear, at first, 
especially as it concerned her friend Tavia. For 
Tavia acted very rashly, to say the least. But 
Dorothy did not desert her, and how she saved 
Tavia from herself is fully related. 

When Dorothy got on the trail of the gypsies, 
in the fourth book of the series, called “ Dorothy 
Dale and Her Chums,” she little dreamed where 
the matter would end. Startling, and almost weird, 
were her experiences when she met the strange 
“Queen,” who seemed so sad, and yet who held 
such power over her wandering people. Here 
again Dorothy’s good sense came to her aid, and 
she was able to find a way out of her trouble. 

One naturally imagined holidays are times of 
gladness and joy, but in “ Dorothy Dale’s Queer 
Holidays,” which is the fifth book of this line, her 
vacation was “ queer ” indeed. How she and her 
friends, the boys as well as the girls, solved the 
mystery of the old “ castle ”, and how they saved 
an unfortunate man from danger and despair, is 
fully set forth. And, as a matter of fact, before 
the adventure in the “ castle ” came to an end, 
Dorothy and her friends themselves were very 
glad to be rescued. 


GOING HOME 


13 


Mistaken identity is the main theme of the 
sixth volume, called “ Dorothy Dale’s Camping 
Days.” To be taken for a demented girl, forced 
to go to a sanitarium, to escape, and to find the 
same girl for whom she was mistaken, was part of 
what Dorothy endured. 

And yet, with all her troubles, which were not 
small, Dorothy did not regret them at the end, 
for they were the means of bringing good to many 
people. The joyous conclusion, when the girl re- 
covered her reason, more than made up for all 
Dorothy suffered. 

Certainly, after all she had gone through, 
our heroine might be expected to be entitled to 
some rest. But events crowded thick and fast on 
Dorothy. On 'her return to Glenwood, after a 
vacation, she found two factions in the school. 

Just who was on each side, and the part Doro- 
thy played, may be learned by reading the seventh 
book of this series, called“Dorothy Dale’s School 
Rivals.” There was rivalry, none the less bitter 
because “ sweet girl graduates ” were the person- 
ages involved. But, in the end, all came out well, 
though at one time it looked as though there would 
be serious difficulties. 

Of course many more characters than Dorothy 
and Tavia played their parts in the stories. There 
were Ned and Nat, the sons of Mrs. White, Dor- 
othy’s aunt, with whom, after some years spent 


14 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


in Dalton, Dorothy and her father and brothers 
went to live, in North Birchlands. Tavia was a 
frequent visitor there, and Tavia and the good- 
looking boy cousins — well, perhaps you had better 
find out that part for yourself. 

Dorothy was always making friends, and, once 
she had made them she never lost them. Not that 
Tavia did not do the same, but she was a girl so 
fond of doing the unexpected, so ready to cause a 
laugh, even if at herself, that many persons did not 
quite know how to take her. 

With Dorothy it was different. Her sweet win- 
someness was a charm never absent. Yet she could 
strike fire, too, when the occasion called for it. 

And so now, in beginning this new book, we find 
our friends ready to leave the “ Glen ”, as they 
called it; leave the school and the teachers under 
whose charge they had been for some time. 

Leaving Glenwood was, as Dorothy said, very 
different from going there. One week before 
Christmas the place was placed in the hands of the 
house-cleaners, and the pupils were scattered about 
over the earth. 

Dorothy and Tavia were together in the chair 
car of the train; and Dorothy, having gathered up 
her mail without opening it as she left the hall, 
now used her nail file to cut the envelopes, and then 
proceeded to see what was the news. 

“ Oh, Tavia! ” she exclaimed, as she looked at 


GOING HOME 


15 


the lavender paper that indicated a note from her 
Aunt Winnie, otherwise Mrs. White. “ Listen to 
this. Aunt Winnie has taken a city house. Of 

course it will be an apartment ” she looked 

keenly at the missive, “ and it will be on Riverside 
Drive.” 

“ Oh, the double-deckers!” exclaimed Tavia. 
“I can feel the air smart my cheeks,” and she 
shifted about expectantly. “Let’s take the auto 
bus — I always did love that word bus. It seems 
to mean a London night in a fog.” 

“ Well, I am sure it will mean good times, and 
I assure you, Tavia, Aunt Winnie has not forgot- 
ten you. You are to come.” 

“ There is only one Aunt Winnie in the world,” 
declared Tavia, “ and she is the Aunty Winnie of 
Dorothy Dale.” Tavia was never demonstrative, 
but just now she squeezed Dorothy’s hand almost 
white. “ How can I manage to get through with 
Dalton ? I have to give home at least three snow- 
storms.” 

“We are getting them right now,” said Doro- 
thy. “ I am afraid we will be snowbound when we 
reach the next stop.” 

Wheeling about in her chair, Tavia flattened her 
face against the window as the train smoke tried 
to hide the snowflakes from her gaze. Dorothy 
W’as still occupied with her mail. 

“It does come down,” admitted Tavia, “but 


i6 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


that will mean a ride for me in old Daddy Bren- 
nen’s sleigh. He calls it a sleigh, but you remem- 
ber, Doro, it is nothing more than the fence rails 
he took from Brady’s, buckled on the runners he 
got from Tim, the ragman. And you cannot have 
forgotten the rubber boot he once used for a 
spring.” 

“It was a funny rig, sure enough,” answered 
Dorothy, “but Daddy Brennen has a famous 
reputation for economy.” 

“ I hope he does not take it into his head to 
economize on my spinal cord by going over Ever- 
green Hill,” replied Tavia. “ I tried that once in 
his rattletrap, and we had to walk over to Jordan, 
and from there I rode home on a pair of milk 
cans. But Doro,” she continued, “ I cannot get 
over the sudden taking away of Mingle Dingle. 
Surely the gods sent that telegram to save me.” 

“ I hope nothing serious has happened at her 
home,” Dorothy mused. “ I never heard anything 
about her family.” 

“You don’t suppose a little mouse of a thing, 
like that born music teacher, has any family,” re- 
plied Tavia irreverently. “ I shall ever after this 
have a respect for the proverbial feather bed.” 

“Here is Stony Junction,” Dorothy remarked, 
as the trainman let in a gust of wind from the 
vestibuled door to shout out the name of that 
station. “ Madeline Maher gets off here. There, 


GOING HOME 


1 7 

she is waving to us! We should have spoken to 
her.” 

“ Never too late,” declared Tavia, and she act- 
ually shouted a good-bye and a merry Christmas 
almost the full length of the car. Dorothy waved 
her hand and “ blew ” a kiss, to which the pretty 
girl who, with the porter close at her heels, was 
leaving the train for her home, responded. Chairs 
swung aroung simultaneously to allow their occu- 
pants a glimpse of the girl who had startled them 
with her shout. Some of the passengers smiled — 
especially did one young man, whose bag showed 
the wear usually given in college sports. He 
dropped his paper, and, not too rudely, smiled 
straight at Tavia. 

“ There ! ” exclaimed she. “ See what a good 
turn does. Just for wishing Maddie a hilarious 
time I got that smile.” 

“ Don’t,” cautioned Dorothy, to whom Tavia’s 
recklessness was ever a source of anxiety. “ We 
have many miles to go yet.” 

“‘So much the better,’ as the old Wolfie, in 
Little Red Riding Hood, said,” Tavia retorted. 
“ I think I shall require a drink of water directly,” 
and she straightened up as if to make her way to 
the end of the car, in order to pass the chair of 
the young man with the scratched-up suitcase. 

Dorothy sighed, but at the same time she smiled. 


18 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 

Tavia could not be repressed, and Dorothy had 
given up hope of keeping her subdued. 

“ Come to think of it,” reflected Tavia, “ I never 
had any permanent luck with the drinking water 
trick. He looks so nice — I might try being sweet 
and refined,” and she turned away, making the 
most absurd effort to look the part. 

“Getting sense,” commented Dorothy. “We 
may now expect a snowslide.” 

“And have my hero dig me out,” added the ir- 
repressible one. “Wouldn’t that be delicious! 
There ! Look at that 1 It is coming down in snow- 
balls!” 

“My!” exclaimed Dorothy, “it is awful! I 
hope the boys do not fail to meet me.” 

“Oh, if they didn’t, you would be all right,” 
said Tavia. “ They serve coffee and rolls at North 
Birchland Station on stormy nights.” 

“ I declare! ” exclaimed Dorothy, “ that young 
man is a friend of Ned’s! I met him last Sum- 
mer, now I remember.” 

“ I knew I would have good luck when I played 
the sweet-girl part,” said Tavia, with unhidden 
delight. “ Go right over and claim him.” 

“Nonsense,” replied Dorothy, while a slight 
blush crept up her forehead into her hair. “ We 
must be more careful than ever. Boys may pre- 
tend to like girls who want a good time, but my 


GOING HOME 


19 


cousins would never tolerate anything like forward- 
ness.” 

“ Only where they are the forwarders,” per- 
sisted Tavia. “ Did not the selfsame Nat, brother 
to the aforesaid Ned ” 

As if the young man in front had at the same 
time remembered Dorothy, he left his seat and 
crossed the aisle to where the girls sat. His head 
was uncovered, of course, but his very polite man- 
ner and bow amply made up for the usual hat 
raising. 

“ Is not this Miss Dale? ” he began, simply. 

u Yes,” answered Dorothy, “and this Mr. 
Niles?” 

u Same chap,” he admitted, while Tavia was 
wondering why he had not looked at her. “ Per- 
haps,” she thought, “he will prove too nice.” 

“ I was just saying to my friend,” faltered Dor- 
othy, “ that I hope nothing will prevent Ned and 
Nat from meeting me. This is quite a storm.” 

“ But it makes Christmas pretty,” he replied, 
and now he did deign to look at Tavia. Dorothy, 
quick to realize his friendliness, immediately in- 
troduced the two. 

It was Tavia’s turn to blush — a failing she very 
rarely gave in to. Perhaps some generous impulse 
prompted the gentleman who occupied the chair 
ahead to leave it and make his way toward the 


20 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


smoking room. This gave Mr. Niles a chance to 
sit near the girls. 

“ We expect a big time at Birchland this holi- 
day,” he said. “Your cousins mentioned you 
would be with us.” 

“Yes, they cannot get rid of me,” Dorothy re- 
plied, in that peculiar way girls have of saying 
meaningless things. “ I am always anxious to get 
to the Cedars — to see father and our boys, and 
Aunt Winnie, of course. I only wish Tavia were 
coming along,” and she made a desperate attempt 
to get Tavia into the conversation. 

“ Home is one of the Christmas tyrannies,” the 
young man said. “ If it were not Christmas some 
of us might forget all about home.” 

Still Tavia said not a single word. She now 
felt hurt. He need not have imagined she cared 
for his preaching, she thought. And besides, his 
tie needed pressing, and his vest lacked the top 
button. Perhaps he had good reasons for want- 
ing to get home to his “ Ma,” she was secretly 
arguing. 

“You live in Wildwind — not far from the 
Cedars; do you not? ” Dorothy asked. 

“I did live there until last Fall,” he replied. 
“ But mother lost her health, and has gone out in 
the country, away from the lake. We are stop- 
ping near Dalton.” 

Tavia fairly gasped at the word “ Dalton.” 


GOING HOME 


21 


“ Then why don’t you go home for Christmas ? ” 
she blurted out. 

“ I am going to mother’s place to get her first,” 
he said. “ Then, if she feels well enough, we will 
come back to the Birchlands.” 

“ My friend lives at Dalton,” Dorothy ex- 
claimed, casting a look of admiration at the flush- 
ing Tavia. 

“ Indeed? ” he replied. “ That’s my station. I 
ride back from there. I am glad to have met 
someone who knows the place. I was fearful of 
being snowbound or station-bound, as I scarcely 
know the locality.” 

“I expect to ride in Daddy Brennen’s sleigh,” 
said Tavia, with an effort. “ He is the only one 
to know on a snowy night at Dalton.” 

“ Then perhaps you will take pity on a stranger, 
and introduce him to Daddy and his sleigh,” the 
youth replied. “ Even a bad snowstorm may have 
its compensations.” 

Tavia hated herself for thinking he really was 
nice. She was not accustomed to being ignored, 
and did not intend to forget that he had slighted 
her. 

“ I almost envy you both,” said Dorothy, good 
humoredly. “ Just see it snow ! I can see you 
under Daddy’s horse blanket.” 

“ It’s surely a horse blanket,” replied Tavia. 
“ We cannot count on his having a steamer rug.” 


22 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


“I suppose,” said Mr. Niles, “ the sleigh an- 
swers all stage-coach purposes out that way? ” 

“As well as freight and express,” returned 
Dorothy. “ Dear old Dalton! I have had some 
good times out there ! ” 

“ Why don’t you come out now, Doro ? ” asked 
Tavia, mischievously. “ There may be some good 
times left.” 

The gentleman who had vacated the seat taken 
by Mr. Niles was now coming back. This, of 
course, was the signal for the latter to leave. 

“We are almost at the Birehlands! ” he said, 
“ I hope, Miss Dale, that those boy cousins of 
yours do not get buried in the snow, and leave you 
in distress. I remember that auto of theirs had 
a faculty for doing wild things.” 

“ Oh, yes. We had more than one adventure 
with the Fire Bird. But I do not anticipate any 
trouble to-night,” said Dorothy. “ I heard from 
Aunt Winnie this morning.” 

With a word about seeing them before the end 
of their journey, he took his chair, while Tavia 
sat perfectly still and silent, for, it seemed to 
Dorothy, the first time in her life. 

“What is it?” she asked. “Don’t you feel 
well, Tavia? ” 

“ I feel like bolting. I have a mind to get off 
at Bridgeton. Fancy me riding with that angel ! ” 

“ I’m sure he is very nice,” Dorothy said, in a 


GOING HOME 


23 


tone of reproof. “ I should think you would be 
glad to have such pleasant company.” 

“ Tickled to death! ” replied Tavia, mockingly. 

“ I’m sure you will have some adventure,” de- 
clared Dorothy. “They always begin that way.” 

“ Do they? Well, if I fall in love with him, 
Doro, I’ll telegraph to you,” and Tavia helped her 
friend on with hat and coat, for the Birchlands 
had already been announced. 


CHAPTER III 


“get a horse! ” 

“Hello there, Coz!” shouted Nat White, as 
Dorothy stepped from the train. “And there’s 
Tavia — and well ! If it isn’t Bob Niles ! ” 

“ Yes,” said Dorothy, postponing further greet- 
ings until the train should pull out, and Tavia’s 
last hand-wave be returned. “ We met him com- 
ing up, and he goes to Dalton.” 

“ Well I’ll be jiggered! And he has Tavia for 
company ! ” exclaimed the young man, who for 
years had regarded Tavia as his particular prop- 
erty, as far as solid friendship was concerned. 

“And Tavia has already vowed to be mean to 
him,” said Dorothy, as she now pressed her warm 
cheek against that of her cousin, the latter’s 
being briskly red from the snowy air. “ She 
would scarcely speak to him on the train.” 

“A bad sign,” said Nat, as he helped Dorothy 
with her bag. “ There are the Blakes. May as 
well ask them up; their machine does not seem to 
be around.” 


24 


GET A HORSE! 


25 


The pretty little country station was gay with 
■holiday arrivals, and among them were many 
known to Dorothy and her popular cousin. The 
Blakes gladly accepted the invitation to ride over 
in the Fire Bird, their auto having somehow missed 
them. 

“You look — lovely,” Mabel Blake compli- 
mented Dorothy. 

“ Doesn’t she? ” chimed in Mabel’s brother, at 
which Dorothy buried her face deeper in her furs. 
Nat cranked up ; and soon the Fire Bird was on its 
way toward the Cedars, the country home of Mrs. 
Nathaniel White, and her two sons, Nat and Ned. 
Mrs. White was the only sister of Major Dale, 
Dorothy’s father, and the Dale family, Dorothy 
and her brothers, Joe and little Roger, had lately 
made their home with her. 

It lacked but a few days of Christmas, and the 
snowstorm added much to the beauty of the scene, 
while the cold was not so severe as to make the 
weather unpleasant. All sorts of happy remem- 
brances were recalled between the occupants of the 
automobile, as it bravely made its way through 
drifts and small banks. 

“Oh, there’s old Peter!” exclaimed Dorothy, 
as a man, his stooped shoulders hidden under a 
load of evergreens, trudged along. 

“And such a heavy burden,” added Mabel. 
“ Couldn’t we give him a lift? ” 


26 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


Nat slowed up a little to give the old man more 
room in the roadway. “ Those Christmas trees 
are poor company in a machine,” he said. “I 
have tried them before.” 

“ But it is so hard for him to travel all the way 
to the village?” pleaded Dorothy. “We could 
put his trees on back, and he could ” 

“Sit with you and Mabel?” and Ted Blake 
laughed at the idea. 

“No, you could do that?” retorted Dorothy, 
“ and Peter could ride with N at. Please, Nat ” 

“ Oh, all right, Coz, if it will make you happy. 
I wish, sometimes, I were lame, halt and old 
enough — to know.” Whereat he stopped the 
machine and insisted on old Peter doing as the 
girls had suggested. 

It was no easy matter to get the trees, and the 
bunches of greens, securely fastened to the back 
of the auto, but it was finally accomplished. Peter 
was profuse in his thanks, for the greens had been 
specially ordered, he said, and he was already late 
in delivering them. 

“ Which way do you go? ” asked Nat. 

“Out to the Squire’s,” replied Peter. “But 
that road is soft, I wouldn’t ask you take it.” 

“Oh, I guess we can make it,” proposed Nat. 
“ The Fire Bird is not quite a locomotive.” 

“She goes like a bird, sure enough,” affirmed 
Peter. “ But that road is full of ditches.” 


GET A HORSE! 


27 


“ We will try them, at any rate,” insisted Nat, 
as he turned from the main road to a narrow 
stretch of white track that cut through woods and 
farm lands. 

“ If we are fortunate enough not to meet any- 
thing,” said Dorothy. “But I have always been 
afraid of a single road, bound with ditches.” 

“ Of course,” growled Nat, “ there comes Terry 
with his confounded cows.” 

Plowing along, his head down and his whip in 
hand came Terry, the half-witted boy who, Winter 
and Summer, drove the cows from their field or 
barn to the slaughter house. He never raised his 
head as Nat tooted the horn, and by the time the 
machine was abreast of the drove of cattle, Nat 
was obliged to make a quick swerve to avoid strik- 
ing the animals. 

“ Oh ! ” gasped both Dorothy and Mabel. The 
car lunged, then came to a sudden stop, while the 
engine still pounded to get ahead. 

“Hang the luck! ” groaned Nat, vainly trying 
to start the car, which was plainly stalled. 

“I told you,” commented Peter, inappropri- 
ately. “ This here road ” 

“Oh, hang the road!” interrupted Nat. “It 
was that loon — Terry.” 

As the young man spoke Terry passed along as 
mutely as if nothing had happened. 

“ I’d like to try that whip on him, to see if I 


28 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


could wake him up,” said Ted, as he leaped out 
after Nat to see what could be done to get the car 
back on the road. 

But it was an impossible task. Pushing, pull- 
ing, prying with fence rails — all efforts left the 
big, red car stuck just where it had floundered. 

“I know,” spoke Peter, suddenly. “I’ll get 
Sanders’s horse.” 

“ Sanders wouldn’t lend his horse to pull a man 
out of a ditch,” said Nat. “I’ve asked him be- 
fore.” 

“That’s where you made a mistake,” replied 
Peter. “ I won’t ask him,” and he awkwardly 
managed to get out of the car, and was soon out 
on the road and making his way across the snow- 
covered fields. 

“We may be tried for horse-stealing next,” re- 
marked Ted, grimly. “ Girls, are you perishing? ” 

“Not a bit of it,” declared Dorothy. “This 
snow is warm rather than cold.” 

“My face is burning,” insisted Mabel. “But 
I do hope old Sanders does not set his dogs on us.” 

“He’s as deaf as a post,” Ted said. “That’s 
a blessing — this time, at least.” 

“ There goes Peter in the barn,” Dorothy re- 
marked. “He has got that far safely, at any 
rate.” 

A strained silence followed this announcement. 
Yes, Peter had gone into the barn. It seemed 


GET A HORSE! 


29 


night would come before he could possibly secure 
the old horse, and get to the roadway to give the 
necessary pull to the stalled Fire Bird. They 
waited, eagerly watching the barn door. Finally 
it opened. Yes, Peter was coming, leading the 
horse. 

“Now!” said Peter, standing with an emer- 
gency rope ready, “ if only he gets past the 
ihouse ” 

He stopped. The door of the snow-covered 
cottage opened, and there stood the unapproach- 
able Sanders. 

“Oh! ” gasped Mabel. “Now we are in for 
it!” 

“ Then,” said Dorothy, “let us be ready for it. 
I’ll prepare the defence,” and before they realized 
what she was about to do she had selected one of 
the very choicest Christmas trees, and with it on 
her fur-covered shoulder, actually started up the 
box-wood lined walk to where the much-dreaded 
Sanders was standing, ready to mete out vengeance 
on the man who had dared to enter his barn, and 
take from it his horse. 

“Oh Mr. Sanders!” called Dorothy. “Have 
you that dear little grand-daughter with you? 
The pretty one we had at the church affair last 
year? ” 

“ You mean Emily? ” he drawled. “ Yep, she’s 
here, but ” 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


,30 


*“ Then, you wonder why we have taken your 
horse? And why we were stalled here?” The 
others could hear her from the roadway. They 
could see, also, that Sanders had stopped to listen. 
“Now we want Emily to have a Christmas tree, 
all her own,” went on Dorothy, “ and Peter is 
good enough to donate it. But our machine — 
those cars are not like horses,” she almost shouted, 
as Sanders being deaf, and watching the inexora- 
ble Peter leading his horse away, had cause to 
be aroused from his natural surprise. “ After all,” 
persisted Dorothy, “ a horse is the best.” 

By this time Peter was outside the big gate. 
Sanders made a move as if to follow, when Doro- 
thy almost dropped the clumsy tree. 

“ Oh, please take it! ” she begged. “ I want to 
see Emily while they are towing the machine out. 
It’s a lucky thing it happened just here, and that 
you are kind enough to let us have your horse.” 

‘Well what do you think of that! ” exclaimed 
Ted, in a voice loud enough for those near him to 
hear. “ Of all the clever tricks ! ” 

“Oh, depend on Doro for cleverness,” replied 
Nat, proudly. “ You just do your part, Ted, and 
make this rope fast.” 

Mabel stood looking on in speechless surprise. 
She saw now that Dorothy and old Sanders were 
entering the cottage. Dorothy was first, and the 
man, with the Christmas tree, followed close be- 



SUDDENLY THE OLD HORSE, AS IF DESPERATE, GAVE A JERK AND 
PULLED THE FIRE BIRD CLEAR. 


Dorothy Dale in the City 


Page 31 






















« 















































GET A HORSE! 


3i 


hind her. The boys with Peter were busy with 
rope, horse and auto. Soon they had the neces- 
sary connection made, with Nat at the wheel, and 
all were tugging with might and main to get the 
Fire Bird free from the ditch. 

If there is anything more nerve-racking than 
such an attempt, it must be some other attempt at 
a balking auto. Would it move, or would it sink 
deeper into the mud that lay hidden beneath the 
newly-fallen snow? 

Nat turned the wheel first this way and then 
that. Ted had his weight pressed against the rear 
wheel of the machine, while Peter coaxed and led 
the horse. Suddenly the old horse, as if desperate, 
gave a jerk and pulled the Fire Bird clear out into* 
the roadway! 

“Hurrah! ” yelled Ted, bounding through the 
snow. 

“Great stunt!” corroborated Nat. “Peter,, 
you are all right! ” 

“ Peter did some,” replied the old man, freeing 
the horse from the rope that held him to the ma- 
chine; “but that young lady — if she hadn’t kept 
Sanders busy — we might all have been arrested 
for horse-stealing.” 

“ She knew his weak spot,” agreed Nat. “ That 
little Emily seems to be the one weak and soft spot 
in old Sanders’s life.” 


32 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


“ I had better go up and see what’s going on,” 
suggested Mabel, as everything seemed about in 
readiness to start off again. 

“ Good idea,” assented her brother, “he might 
be eating her up.” 

Mabel rather timidly found her way up to the 
cottage. It was already dusk, but the light of a 
dim lamp showed her the way, as it gleamed 
through a gloomy window, onto the glistening 
snow. 

“Won’t it be perfectly lovely, Emily?” she 
heard Doro saying, as she saw her with her arms 
about a little red-haired girl, both sitting on a sofa, 
while Sanders attempted to prop the Christmas 
tree up in a corner, bracing it with a wooden chair. 
Mabel raised the latch without going through the 
formality of knocking. As she entered the room, 
all but Dorothy start* d in surprise. 

“This is my friend,” Dorothy hurried to ex- 
plain, “ it is she who is going to help me trim the 
tree up for Emily. We will come to-morrow,” 
and she rose to leave. “ Mabel will fetch the doll, 
Emily. That is, of course, if we can persuade 
Santa Claus to give us just the kind we want,” 
she tried to correct. 

“A baby dolly — with long hair and a white 
dress,” Emily ordered. “ And I want eyelashes.” 

“ Perticular,” said Sanders, with a proud look 


GET A HORSE! 


33 


at the child, who, as the boys had said, made up 
the one tender spot in his life. “ If her ma’s cold 
is better, she is coming up herself.” 

“ Is she sick? ” Emily ventured, glad to be able 
to say something intelligent. 

“Yep,” replied the old man, sadly. “She’s 
been sick a long time. I fetched Emily over this 
afternoon in the sleigh.” 

“Well, we are so much obliged,” remarked 
Dorothy. “And good-bye, Emily. You’ll have 
everything ready for Santa Claus; won’t you? ” 

“ I’ve got my parlor set from last year,” said 
the child, “ and mamma says Santa Claus always 
likes to see the other things, to know we took care 
of them.” 

“Thanks, Sanders,” called Peter, at the win- 
dow. “ The horse is as good as ever. Don’t sell 
him without giving me a chance. I could do some- 
thing if I owned a mare like that.” 

“All right,” called back Sanders, whose pride 
was being played upon. “ He might be worse. 
Did you put her in the far stall ? ” 

“ Just where I got her. And I tell you, San- 
ders, even a horse can play at Christmas. Only 
for him I never could get those trees to town.” 

“And only for Peter,” put in Dorothy, “we 
could not have gotten Emily her tree. Now that’s 
how a horse can turn Santa Claus. Good-bye, Mr. 
Sanders, you may expect us before Christmas.” 


34 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


And then the two girls followed the chuckling 
Peter back to the Fire Bird, where the boys im- 
patiently awaited them, to complete the delayed 
party bound for home, and for the Christmas holi- 
days. 


CHAPTER IV 


A REAL BEAUTY BATH 

“This is some,” remarked Bob Niles, before 
'he knew what he was talking about. They had 
just been ensconsed in Daddy Brennen’s sleigh. 
Tavia was beside him — that is, she was as close 
beside him as she was beside Daddy Brennen, but 
the real fact was, that in this sleigh, no one could 
be beside anyone else — it was ever a game of toss 
and catch. But that was not Daddy’s fault. He 
never stopped calling to his horse, or pulling at 
the reins. It must have been the roads, yet every- 
one paid taxes in Dalton Township. 

“ Don’t boast,” Tavia answered, adjusting her- 
self anew to the last jolt, “ this never was a sleigh 
to boast of, and it seems to be worse than ever 
now. There ! ” she gasped, as she almost fell 
over the low board that outlined the edge, “ one 
more like that, and I will be mixed up with the 
gutter.” 

“ Perhaps this is a safer place,” Bob ventured. 
“ I seem to stay put pretty well. Won’t you change 
with me? ” 


35 


36 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 

“ No, thanks,” Tavia answered, good-humor- 
edly. “When Daddy assigns one to a seat one 
must keep it.” 

“Nice clean storm,” Daddy called back from 
the front. “ I always like a white Christmas.” 

“Yes,” Tavia said, “looks as if this is going 
to be white enough. But what are you turning 
into the lane for, Daddy?” 

“ Promised Neil Blair I’d take his milk in for 
him. He can’t get out much in storms — rheuma- 
tism.” 

“ Oh,” Tavia ejaculated. Then to Bob : “ How 
we are going to ride with milk cans is more than I 
can see.” 

“The more the merrier,” Bob replied, laugh- 
ing. “ I never had a better time in my life. This 
beats a straw ride.” 

“ Oh, we have had them too, with Daddy,” she 
told him. “ Doro and our crowd used to have 
good times when she lived in Dalton.” 

“ No doubt. This is the farmhouse, I guess,” 
Bob added, as the sleigh pulled up to a hill. 

“Yes, this is Neil’s place,” Tavia said. “And 
there comes Mrs. Blair with a heavy milk can.” 

“Oh, I must help her with that,” offered the 
young man. “ I suppose our driver has to take 
care of his speedy horse.” 

Disentangling himself from the heavy blankets, 
Bob managed to alight in time to take the milk 


A REAL BEAUTY BATH 


37 

can from the woman, who stood with it at the top 
of the hill. 

“ Oh, thank you, sir! ” she panted. “ The cans 
seem to get heavier, else I am getting lazy. But 
Neil had such a twinge, from this storm, that I 
wouldn’t let him out.” 

“And did you do all the milking?” Tavia 
asked, as Bob managed to place the can in the 
spot seemingly made for it, beside Daddy. 

“ Certainly. Oh, how do you do, Tavia? How 
fine you look; I’m glad to see you home for Christ- 
mas,” Mrs. Blair assured the girl. 

“ Thank you. I’m glad to get home.” 

“ Fetchin’ company?” with a glance at young 
Niles. 

“ No, he’s going farther on,” and Tavia won- 
dered why it was so difficult for her to make such 
a trifling remark. 

“ Well, I’m glad he came this way, at any rate,” 
the woman continued. “ But Daddy will be goin’ 
without the other can,” and he turned off again 
in the direction of the barn. 

“Are there more?” Bob asked Tavia, cau- 
tiously. 

“ I’m afraid so,” she replied. “ But I guess she 
can manage them.” 

“ My mother would disown me if she knew I 
let her,” Bob asserted, bravely. “This is an ex- 
perience not in the itinerary,” and he scampered 


38 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 

up the hill, and made for the barn after Mrs. 
Blair. 

Tavia could not help but admire him. After 
all, she thought, a good-looking lad could be use- 
ful, if only for carrying milk cans. 

“ And has that young gent gone after the can? ” 
asked Daddy, as if just awaking from some dream. 

“Yes,” Tavia replied, rather sharply. “He 
wouldn’t let Mrs. Blair carry such a heavy thing.” 

“Well, she’s used to it,” Daddy declared. At 
the same time he did disturb himself sufficiently to 
get out and prepare to put the second can in its 
place. 

A college boy, in aTravelling suit, carrying a huge 
milk can through the snow, Tavia thought rather 
a novel sight, but Bob showed his training, and 
managed it admirably. 

“ I’ll put her in,” offered Daddy, “ I didn’t know 
you went after it.” 

“ So kind of him,” remarked Mrs. Blair, “but 
he would have it. Thank you, Daddy, for stop- 
ping. Neil’ll make it all right with you.” 

Daddy was standing up in the sleigh, the can in 
his hands, “ I think,” he faltered, “ I’ll have to set 
this down by you, Miss Travers,” he decided. 

“ All right,” Tavia agreed, making room at her 
feet. 

He lifted the can high enough to get it over 
the back of the seat. It was heavy, and awkward, 


A REAL BEAUTY BATH 


39 


and he leaned on the rickety seat trying to sup- 
port himself. The weight was too much for the 
board, and before Bob could get in to help him, 
and before Tavia could get herself out of the 
way, the can tilted and the milk poured from it in 
a torrent over the head, neck and shoulders of 
Tavia ! 

“ Oh, mercy! ” she yelled. “ My new furs! ” 

“ Save the milk,” growled Daddy. 

“ Jump up ! ” Bob commanded Tavia. “ Let it 
run off if it will.” 

But Tavia was either too disgusted, or too sur- 
prised, to “jump up.” Instead she sat there, fix- 
ing a frozen look at the unfortunate Daddy. 

“ My milk! ” screamed Mrs. Blair. “ A whole 
can full!” 

“Was it ordered?” Bob asked, who by this 
time had gotten Tavia from under the shower. 

“No,” she said hesitatingly, “but someone 
would have took it for Christmas bakin’.” 

“ Then let us have it,” offered Bob, generously. 
“ If I had kept my seat perhaps it would not have 
happened.” 

“Nonsense,” objected Tavia, “it was entirely 
Daddy’s fault.” 

But Daddy did not hear — he was busy trying 
to save the dregs in the milk can. 

“ What’s it worth? ” persisted Bob. 

“Two dollars,” replied Mrs. Blair, promptly. 


40 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


Bob put his hand in his pocket and took out two 
bills. He handed them to the woman. 

“There,” he said, “it will be partly a Christ- 
mas present. I ©nly hope my — friend’s furs will 
not be ruined.” 

“ Milk don’t hurt,” Mrs. Blair said, without rea- 
son. “ Thank you, sir,” she added to Bob. “ This 
is better than ten that’s cornin’. And land knows 
we needed it to-night.” 

“ I’ve lost time enough, ” growled Daddy. “ And 
that robe is spoiled. Next time I carry milk cans 
I’ll get a freight car.” 

“ And the next time I take a milk beauty bath,” 
said Tavia, “I’ll wear old clothes.” But as Bob 
climbed in again, and Tavia assured him her furs 
were not injured, she thought of Dorothy’s pre- 
diction that she, Tavia, was about to have an ad- 
venture when she met Bob Niles. 

“ I’ll have something to tell Dorothy,” she re- 
marked aloud. 

“ And I’ll have news for Nat,” slily said Bob. 


CHAPTER V 


Dorothy's protege 

“ Well, what do you think of that! ” 

“Well, what do you think of this! ” 

It was Nat who spoke first, and Dorothy who 
echoed. They were both looking at letters — from 
Tavia and from Bob. 

“ I knew Bob would find her interesting,” said 
Nat, with some irony in his tone. 

“And I knew she would finally like him,” said 
Dorothy, significantly. 

“ Bob has a way with girls,” went on Nat, “he 
always takes them slowly — it’s the surest way.” 

“But don’t you think Tavia is very pretty? 
Everyone at school raves about her,” Dorothy 
declared with unstinted pride, for Tavia’s golden 
brown hair, and matchless complexion, were ever 
a source of pride to her chum. 

“ Of course she’s pretty,” Nat agreed. “ Wasn’t 
it I who discovered her? ” 

Dorothy laughed, and gave a lock of her 
cousin’s own brown hair a twist. She, as well as 
41 


42 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


all their mutual friends, knew that Nat and Tavia 
were the sort of chums who grow up together and 
cement their friendship with the test of time. 

“ Come to think of it,” she replied, “ you always 
did like red-headed girls.” 

“Now there’s Mabel,” he digressed, “Mabel 
has hair that seems a misfit — she has blue eyes 
and black hair. Isn’t that an error? ” 

“ Indeed,” replied Dorothy, “ that is considered 
one of the very best combinations. Rare beauty, 
in fact.” 

“ Well, I hope she is on time for the Christmas- 
tree affair out at Sanders’s, whatever shade her 
hair. I don’t see, Doro, why you insist on going 
away out there to put things on that tree. Why 
not ask the Sunday School people to trim it? We 
gave the tree.” 

“Because I promised, Nat,” replied Dorothy, 
firmly, “ and because I just like to do it for little 
Emily. I got the very doll she ordered, and Aunt 
Winnie got me a lot of pretty things this morning.” 

“ Wish momsey would devote her charity to her 
poor little son,” said the young man, drily. “ He 
is the one who needs it most! ” 

“ Never mind, dear,” and Dorothy put her arms 
around him, “you shall have a dolly, too.” 

“ Here’s Ned,” he interrupted, “ I wonder if he 
got my skates sharpened? I asked him, but I’ll 
wager he forgot.” 


DOROTHY’S PROTEGE 


45 

is. A high — low and the game! To go out there 
to-night in this freeze ! ” 

“ Strange thing,” Dorothy murmured, “ how 
young men freeze up — sort of antagonistic con- 
vulsion.” 

“Oh, come on,” drawled Ned, “when a girl 
wills, she will — and there’s an end on it.” 

It did not take the girls long to comply — Doro- 
thy was out with Ted, Mabel, Nat and Ned before 
the boys had a chance to relent. 

“ Those bundles? ” questioned Ted, as Dorothy 
surrounded herself with the things for Emily. 

“Now did you ever!” exclaimed Dorothy. 
“ It seems to me everything is displeasing to-day.” 

“No offence, I’m sure,” Ted hastened to cor- 
rect, “ but the fact is — we boys had a sort of good 
time framed up for this afternoon. Not but what 
we are delighted to be of service ” 

“ Why didn’t you say so ? ” Dorothy asked. 

It seemed for the moment that the girls and 
boys were not to get along in their usual pleasant 
manner. But the wonderful sleighing, and the de- 
lightful afternoon, soon obliterated the threaten- 
ing difficulties, and a happy, laughing party in each 
cutter glided over the road, now evenly packed 
with mid-winter snow. 

The small boys along the way occasionally stole 
a ride on the back runners of the sleighs, or “ got 


46 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


a hitch ” with sled or bob, thus saving the walk up 
hill or the jaunt to the ice pond. 

“Oh, there’s Dr. Gray!” Dorothy exclaimed 
suddenly as a gentleman in fur coat and cap was 
seen hurrying along. “ I wonder why he is walk- 
ing? ” 

“ For his health, likely,” Ted answered. “ Doc- 
tors know the sort of medicine to take for their 
own constitutions.” 

By this time they were abreast of the physician. 
Dorothy called out to him : 

“ Where’s your horse, Doctor? ” 

“Laid up,” replied the medical man, with a 
polite greeting. “ He slipped yesterday ” 

“Going far?” Ted interrupted, drawing his 
horse up. 

“ Out to Sanders’s,” replied the doctor. 

“ Sanders’s ! ” repeated Dorothy. “ That’s 
where we’re going. Who’s sick?” 

“The baby,” replied the doctor, “and they 
asked me to hurry.” 

“Get in with us,” Ted invited, while Dorothy 
almost gasped. Little Emily sick! She could 
scarcely believe it. 

Dr. Gray gladly accepted the invitation to ride, 
and the next cutter with Ned, Nat and Mabel, 
pulled up along side of Ted’s. 

“You may as well turn back,” Dorothy told 
them. Then she explained that little Emily was 


DOROTHY’S PROTEGE 47 

sick, and likely would not want her Christmas tree 
trimmed. 

“ But I’ll go along,” she said, “ I may be able to 
help, for her mother is sick, even if she is with 
her.” 

After all her preparations, it was a great dis- 
appointment to think the child could not enjoy the 
gifts. Dr. Gray told her, however, that Emily was 
subject to croup, and that perhaps the spell would 
not last. 

At the house they found everything in con- 
fusion. Emily’s sick mother coughed harder at 
every attempt she made to help the little one, while 
Mr. Sanders, the child’s grandfather, tried vainly 
to get water hot on a lukewarm stove. 

“ Pretty bad, Doc,” he said with a groan, 
“ thought she’d choke to death last night.” 

Without waiting to be directed, Dorothy threw 
aside her heavy coat, drew off her gloves, and was 
breaking bits of wood in her hands, to hurry the 
kettle that, being watched, had absolutely refused 
to boil. 

“You can just put that oil on to heat, Miss 
Dale,” Dr. Gray said, he having bidden the sick 
woman to keep away from Emily. “ We’ll rub 
her up well with warm oil, and see if we can loosen 
up that congestion.” 

Emily lay on the uneven sofa, her cheeks burn- 
ing, and her breath jerking in struggles and coughs. 


48 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


Dorothy found a pan and had the oil hot before 
the doctor was ready to use it. 

“Quite a nurse,” he said, in that pleasant way 
the country doctor is accustomed to use. “ Glad 
I happened to meet you.” 

“ I’m glad, too,” Dorothy replied sincerely. 
“ Never mind, Emily, you will have your Christ- 
mas tree, as soon as we get the naughty cold 
cured,” she told the child. 

Emily’s eyes brightened a little. The tree still 
stood in a corner of the room. Outside, Ted was 
driving up and down the road in evident im- 
patience, but Dorothy was too busy to notice him. 

Soon the hot applications took effect, and Emily 
breathed more freely and regularly. Then the 
doctor attended to the other patient — the mother. 
It was a sad Christmas time, and had a depressing 
effect even on the young spirits of Dorothy. She 
tried to speak to Emily, but here eyes wandered 
around at the almost bare room, and noted ‘its 
untidy appearance. Dishes were piled up on the 
table, pans stood upon the floor, papers were lit- 
tered about. How could people live that way? 
she wondered. 

Mrs. Tripp, Emily’s mother, must be a widow, 
Dorothy thought, and she knew old Mrs. Sanders 
had died the Winter before. 

The doctor had finished with Mrs. Tripp. He 
glanced anxiously about him. To whom would he 


DOROTHY’S PROTEGE 


49 

give instructions? Mr. Sanders seemed scarcely 
capable of giving the sick ones the proper care. 

Dorothy saw the look of concern on the doc- 
tor’s face and she rightly interpreted it. 

“ If we only could take them to some other 
place,” she whispered to him. Then she stopped, 
as a sudden thought seized her. 

“ Doesn’t Mr. Wolters always make a Christ- 
mas gift to the sanitarium?” she asked Dr. Gray. 

“Always,” replied the doctor. 

“ Then why can’t we ask him to have little 
Emily and her mother taken to the sanitarium? 
They surely need just such care,” she said quickly. 

The doctor slapped one hand on the other, show- 
ing that the suggestion had solved the problem. 
Then he motioned Dorothy out into the room 
across the small hall. She shivered as she entered 
it, for it was without stove, or other means of 
heating. 

“ If I only had my horse,” he said, “ I would go 
right over to Wolters’s. He would do a great 
deal for me, and I want that child cared for to- 
night.” 

“ I’ll ask Ted to let us take his sleigh,” Doro- 
thy offered, promptly. “ He could go with us to 
the Corners, and then you could drive.” 

“And take you ? ” asked Dr. Gray. “ I am sure 
you young folks have a lot to do this afternoon.” 

“No matter about that,” persisted Dorothy. 


50 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


“ If I can help, I am only too glad to do it. And 
Mr. Wolters is on Aunt Winnie’s executive board. 
He might listen to my appeal.” 

There was neither time nor opportunity for fur- 
ther conversation, so Dorothy hastily got into her 
things, and soon she was in Ted’s sleigh again, 
huddled close to Dr. Gray in his big, fur coat. 

The plan was unfolded to Ted, and he, anxious 
to get back to his friends, willingly agreed to walk 
from the Corners, and there turn the cutter over 
to the charity workers. 

“ But Dorothy,” he objected, “ I know they will 
all claim I should have insisted on your coming 
back with me. They will say you will kill yourself 
with charity, and all that sort of thing.” 

“Then say I will be home within an hour,” 
Dorothy directed, as Ted jumped on the bob that 
a number of boys were dragging up the hill. 
“Good-bye, and thank you for the rig.” 

“ One hour, mind,” Ted called back. “ You can 
drive Bess, I know.” 

“ Of course,” Dorothy shouted. Then Bess was 
headed for The Briars, the country home of the 
millionaire Wolters. 

“Suppose he has already made his gift,” Dor- 
othy demurred, as she wrapped the fur robe closely 
about her feet, “ and says he can’t guarantee any 
more.” 

“ Then I guess he will have to make another,” 


DOROTHY’S PROTEGE 51 

said the doctor. “ I would not be responsible for 
the life of that child out there in that shack.” 

“If he agrees, how will you get Mrs. Tripp 
and Emily out to the sanitarium ? ” Dorothy asked. 

“ Have to ’phone to Lakeside, and see if we can 
get the ambulance,” he replied. “ That’s the only 
way to move them safely.” 

It seemed to Dorothy that her plan was more 
complicated than she had imagined it would be, 
but it was Christmas time, and doing good for 
others was in the very atmosphere. 

“ It will be a new kind of Christmas tree,” ob- 
served the doctor. “ But she’s a cunning little one 
— she deserves to be kept alive.” 

“Indeed she does,” Dorothy said, “and I’m 
glad if I can help any.” 

“ Why I never would have thought of the plan,” 
said the doctor. “ I had been thinking all the 
time we ought to do something, but Wolters’s 
Christmas gift never crossed my mind. Here we 
are. My, but this is a great place ! ” he finished. 
And the next moment Dorothy had jumped out of 
the cutter and was at the door of Mr. Ferdinand 
Wolters. 


CHAPTER VI 


THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS 

Dorothy was scolded. There her own family 
— father, Joe and Roger, to say nothing of dear 
Aunt Winnie, and the cousins Ned and Nat — were 
waiting for her important advice about a lot of 
Christmas things, and she had ridden off with Dr. 
Gray, attending to the gloomy task of having a 
sick child and her mother placed in a sanitarium. 

But she succeeded, and when on the following 
day she visited Emily and her mother, she found 
the nurses busy in an outer hall, fixing up the 
Christmas tree that Mr. Sanders had insisted upon 
bringing all the way from the farmhouse where 
Dorothy had left it for little Emily. 

The very gifts that Dorothy left unopened out 
there, when she found the child sick, the nurses 
were placing on the tree, waiting to surprise Emily 
when she would open her eyes on the real Christ- 
mas day. 

And there had been added to these a big sur- 
prise indeed, for Mr. Wolters was so pleased with 
52 


THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS 53 


the result of his charity, that he added to the hos- 
pital donation a personal check for Mrs. Tripp 
and her daughter. The check was placed in a tiny 
feed bag, from which a minature horse (Emily’s 
pet variety of toy) was to eat his breakfast on 
Christmas morning. 

Major Dale did not often interfere with his 
daughter’s affairs, but this time his sister, Mrs. 
White, had importuned him, declaring that Dor- 
othy would take up charity work altogether if they 
did not insist upon her taking her proper position 
in the social world. It must be admitted that the 
kind old major believed that more pleasure could 
be gotten out of Dorothy’s choice than that of his 
well-meaning, and fashionable, sister. But Win- 
nie, he reflected, had been a mother to Dorothy 
for a number of years, and women, after all, knew 
best about such things. 

It was only when Dorothy found the major 
alone in his little den off his sleeping rooms that 
the loving daughter stole up to the footstool, and, 
in her own childish way, told him all about it. He 
listened with pardonable pride, and then told Dor- 
othy that too much charity is bad for the health 
of growing girls. The reprimand was so absurd 
that Dorothy hugged his neck until he reminded 
her that even the breath of a war veteran has its 
limitations. 

So Emily was left to her surprises, and now, 


54 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


on the afternoon of the night before Christmas, 
we find Dorothy and Mabel, with Ned, Nat and 
Ted, busy with the decorations of the Cedars. 
Step ladders knocked each other down, as the en- 
thusiastic boys tried to shift more than one to 
exactly the same spot in the long library. Kitchen 
chairs toppled over just as Dorothy or Mabel 
jumped to save their slippered feet, and the long 
strings of evergreens, with which all hands were 
struggling, made the room a thing of terror for 
Mrs. White and Major Dale 

The scheme was to run the greens in a perfect 
network across the beamed ceiling, not in the usual 
“ chandelier-corner ” fashion, but latticed after the 
style of the Spanish serenade legend. 

At intervals little red paper bells dangled, and 
a prettier idea for decoration could scarcely be 
conceived. To say that Dorothy had invented it 
would not do justice to Mabel, but however that 
may be, all credit, except stepladder episodes, was 
accorded the girls. 

“Let me hang the big bell,” begged Ted, “if 
there is one thing I have longed for all my life it 
was that — to hang a big ‘ belle’.” 

He aimed his stepladder for the middle of the 
room, but Nat held the bell. 

“ She’s my belle,” insisted Nat, “ and she’s not 
going to be hanged — she’ll be hung first,” and he 
caressed the paper ornament. 


THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS 55 


“ If you boys do not hurry we will never get 
done,” Dorothy reminded them. “ It’s almost 
dark now.” 

“Almost, but not quite,” teased Ted. “ Doro- 
thy, between this and dark, there are more things 
to happen than would fill a hundred stockings. By 
the way, where do we hang the hose? ” 

“We don’t,” she replied. “ Stockings are pic- 
turesque in a kitchen, but absurb in such a bower 
as this.” 

“ Right, Coz,” agreed Ned, deliberately sitting 
down with a wreath of greens about his neck. 
“ Cut out the laundry, ma would not pay my little 
red chop-suey menu last week, and I may have to 
wear a kerchief on Yule day.” 

“Oh, don’t you think that — sweet!” exulted 
Mabel, making a true lover’s knot of the end of 
her long rope of green that Nat had succeeded in 
intertwining with Dorothy’s ‘cross town line’.” 

“Delicious,” declared Ned, jumping up and 
placing his arms about her neck. 

“ Stop,” she cried. “ I meant the bow.” 

“Who’s running this show, any way?” asked 
Ted. “ Do you see the time, Frats?” 

The mantle clock chimed six. Ned and Nat 
jumped up, and shook themselves loose from the 
stickery holly leaves as if they had been so many 
feathers. 


56 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 

“ We must eat,” declared Ned, dramatically, 
“ for to-morrow we die !” 

“ We cannot have tea until everything is fin- 
ished,” Dorothy objected. “Do you think we 
girls can clean up this room?” 

“ Call the maids in,” Ned advised, foolishly, 
for the housemaids at the Cedars were not ex- 
pected to clean up after the “ festooners.” 

Dorothy frowned her reply, and continued to 
gather up the ends of everything. Mabel did not 
desert either, but before the girls realized it, the 
boys had run ofi — to the dining room where a hasty 
meal, none the less enjoyable, was ready to be 
eaten. 

“ What do you suppose they are up to?” Mabel 
asked. 

“ There is something going on when they are 
in such a hurry. What do you say if we follow 
them? It is not dark, and they can’t be going 
far,” answered Dorothy. 

Mabel gladly agreed, and, a half hour later, the 
two girls cautiously made their way along the 
white road, almost in the shadow of three jolly 
youths. Occasionally they could hear the remarks 
that the boys made. 

“ They are going to the wedding ! ” Dorothy ex- 
claimed. ”The seven o’clock wedding at 
Winter’s!” 

Mabel did not reply. The boys had turned 


THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS 57 

around, and she clutched Dorothy’s arm nervously. 
Instinctively both girls slowed their pace. 

“They did not see us,” Dorothy whispered, 
presently. “ But they are turning into Sodden’s !” 

Sodden’s was the home of one of the boys’ 
chums — Gus Sodden by name. He was younger 
than the others, and had the reputation of being 
the most reckless chap in North Birchland. 

“ But,” mused Mabel, “ the wedding is to be at 
the haunted house ! I should be afraid ” 

“Mabel!” Dorothy exclaimed, “you do not 
mean to say that you believe in ghosts!” 

“Oh — no,” breathed Mabel, “but you know 
the idea is so creepy.” 

“That is why,” Dorothy said with a light 
laugh, “ we have to creep along now. Look at 
Ned. He must feel our presence near.” 

The boys now were well along the path to the 
Sodden home. It was situated far down in a 
grove, to which led a path through the hemlock 
trees. These trees were heavy with the snow that 
they seemed to love, for other sorts of foliage 
had days before shed the fall that had so gently 
stolen upon them — like a caress from a white 
world of love. 

“ My, it is dark! ” demurred Mabel, again. 

“Mabel Blake!” accused Dorothy. “I do 
believe you are a coward!” 

It was lonely along the way. Everyone being 


58 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 

busy with Christmas at home, left the roads de- 
serted. 

“ What do you suppose they are going in there 
for? ” Mabel finally whispered. 

“We will have to wait and find out,” replied 
Dorothy. “ When one starts out spying on boys 
she must be prepared for all sorts of surprises.” 

“ Oh, there comes Gus! Look! ” Mabel pointed 
to a figure making tracks through the snow along 
the path. 

“ And — there are the others. It did not take 
them long to make up. They are — Christmas — 
Imps. Such make-ups ! ” Dorothy finished, as she 
beheld the boys, in something that might have 
been taken, or mistaken, for stray circus baggage. 

Even in their disguise it was easy to recognize 
the boys. Ned wore a kimono — bright red. On 
his head was the tall sort of cap that clowns and 
the old-fashioned school dunce wore. Nat was 
“ cute ” in somebody’s short skirt and a shorter 
jacket. He wore also a worsted cap that was 
really, in the dim light, almost becoming. Ted 
matched up Nat, the inference being that they were 
to be Christmas attendants on Santa Claus. 

The girls stepped safely behind the hedge as 
the procession passed. The boys seemed too in- 
volved in their purpose to talk. 

“Now,” said Dorothy, “we may follow. I 
knew they were up to something big.” 


THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS 59 

“Aren’t they too funny!” said Mabel, who had 
almost giggled disastrously as the boys passed. 
“ I thought I would die!” 

There was no time to spare now, for the boys 
were walking very quickly, and it was not so easy 
for the girls to keep up with them and at the same 
time to keep away from them. 

Straight they went for what was locally called 
the “haunted” house. This was a fine old mansion, 
with big rooms and broad chimneys, which had 
once been the home of a family of wealth. But 
there had been a sad tragedy there, and after that 
it had been said that ghosts held sway at the place. 
It had been deserted for two years, but now, with 
the former owner dead, a niece of the family, 
fresh from college, had insisted upon being mar- 
ried there, and the house had been accordingly put 
into shape for the ceremony. 

It was to be a fashionable wedding, at the hour 
of six, and people had kept the station agent busy 
all day inquiring how to reach the scene of the 
wedding. 

Lights already burned brightly in the rooms, 
that could be seen to be decorated in holiday 
style. People fluttered around and through the 
long French windows; the young folks, boys and 
girls, being hidden in different quarters, could 
alike see something of what was going on in the 
haunted house. 


6o 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


“ They’re coming !” Dorothy heard Nat ex- 
claim, just as he ducked in by the big outside 
chimney. The broad flue was at the extreme end 
of the house, forming the southern part of the 
library, just off the wide hall that ran through 
the middle of the place. Dorothy and Mabel 
had taken refuge in one of the many odd corners 
of the big, old fashioned porch, which partly en- 
circled this wing, and commanding a wonderful 
view of the interior of the house, the halls and 
library, and long, narrow drawing room. 

There was a smothered laugh at the corner of 
the porch where the boys had ducked, and the 
girls watched in wonder. The latter saw Nat 
boost Ned up the side of the porch column, and 
Ted followed nimbly. In tense silence the girls 
listened to their footsteps cross the porch roof, 
then as scraping and slipping and much suppressed 
mirth floated down. 

“They’re going down the chimney!” declared 
Dorothy, in astonishment. 

“They surely are!” affirmed Mabel, leaning 
far over the porch rail. 

“ But, Doro, what of the fire? ” 

“ They don’t use that chimney. They use the 
one on the other side of the house, and the one 
in the kitchen.” 


CHAPTER VII 


REAL GHOSTS 

“That explains the basket!” exclaimed Doro- 
thy, suddenly. 

“ How can they do it ! ” Mabel giggled excit- 
edly. 

“ They can’t,” Dorothy replied, calmly, u they’ll 
simply get in a mess — soot and things, you know.” 

“ Let’s run. I’m too excited to breathe ! I 
know something dreadful is bound to happen ! ” 
And Mabel clutched Dorothy’s arm. 

“And leave the boys to their fate? No, indeed, 
we’ll see the prank through, since we walked wito 
it,” Dorothy said, determinedly. 

Mabel laughed nervously, and looked at Doro- 
thy in puzzled impatience. “ I always believe in 
running while there’s time,” she explained. 

Music, sweet and low, floated out on the still, 
cold air of the night, and the wedding guests, in 
trailing gowns of silver and lace and soft satins, 
stood in laughing groups, all eyes turned toward 
the broad staircase. 

61 


62 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


“ How quiet it’s become; everyone has stopped 
talking,” whispered Mabel, in Dorothy’s ear. 

“How peculiarly they are all staring! But of 
course it must be exciting just before the bride 
appears,” murmured Dorothy, in answer. 

“ Oh, there comes the bride ! ” cried Mabel. 
“ Isn’t she sweet! ” 

“ It’s a stunt to trail downstairs that way — like 
a summer breeze. How beautifully gauzy she 
looks ! ” sighed Dorothy. 

The eyes of the guests were turned half in won- 
der toward the old chimney place, and half smil- 
ingly toward the bride. On came the bride, tall 
and slender and leaning gracefully on her father’s 
arm, straight toward the tall mantel in the chimney 
place, which was lavishly banked with palms and 
flowers, and the minister began reading the cere- 
mony. 

“Hey! Let go there!” Ned’s muffled voice 
floated above the heads of the wedding guests, 
who stood aghast. 

“ You’re stuck all right, old chap,” came the con- 
soling voice of Nat in a ghostly whisper. 

Sounds of half-smothered, weird laughter — or 
so the laughter seemed to the guests — filled the air. 
The bridegroom flushed and looked quickly at his 
bride, who clung to her father’s arm, pale with 
fright. The minister alone was calm. 

As the bridegroom’s clear answer: “I will” 


REAL GHOSTS 


63 


came to the ears of Dorothy and Mabel out on 
the porch, a creepy sound issued from the great 
fireplace. The newly-made husband kissed his 
bride, and the guests moved back. 

Dorothy leaned eagerly forward to catch a 
glimpse of the radiantly smiling bride. Just then 
a tall palm wavered, fell to the floor with a crash, 
and in falling, carried vases and jars of flowers 
with it, and the ghostly laughter could be plainly 
heard by all. 

All the tales that had been told of the haunted 
house came vividly before each guest. There were 
feminine screams, a confused rush for the hall- 
way, and in two seconds the wedding festivities 
were in an uproar. The bride sank to the floor, 
and with white, upturned face, lay unconscious. 

The men of the party with one thought jumped 
to the fireplace, and Ned was dragged, by way of 
the chimney, into the room. Completely dazed, 
utterly chagrined, and looking altogether foolish, 
he sat in a round, high basket, his knees crushed 
under his chin, the clown’s cap rakishly hanging 
over one ear, his face unrecognizable in its thick 
coating of cobwebs and soot. 

“ Oh, we’re so sorry,” Dorothy’s eager young 
voice broke upon the hushed crowd, as she ran into 
the room, with Mabel behind her. 

Ned stared open-mouthed at the gaily-dressed 
people. It had happened so suddenly, and was so 


64 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


far from what he had planned, that he could not 
get himself in hand. 

u Good gracious ! ” exclaimed the bride’s father, 
pacing up and down, “ can’t someone get order 
out of this chaos? ” 

The bridegroom was chafing the small white 
hands of his bride, and the guests stepped away to 
give her air. The wedding finery lay limp and 
draggled. Dorothy stifled a moan as she looked. 
Quickly jumping out of the crowd she left the 
room. Mabel stood still, uncertain as to what to 
do. At the long French windows appeared Nat, 
Ted and Gus, grotesque in their make-ups and 
trying in vain to appear as serious as the situation 
demanded. 

“ Step in here ! ” commanded the father, and 
the boys meekly stepped in. A brother of the bride 
held Ned firmly by the arm. “ Now, young scally- 
wags, explain yourselves ! ” 

It was an easy thing for the irate father to de- 
mand, but it completely upset the boys. They 
couldn’t explain themselves. 

In an awed whisper, Ned ventured an explana- 
tion: “We only wanted to keep up the reputation 
of the house.” 

“ And the basket stuck,” eagerly helped out Ted. 

“ We just thought we would whisper mysterious- 
ly and — and cough — or something,” and Ned tried 
to free himself from the grip on his arm. 


REAL GHOSTS 


65 


“ It was wider than we thought and the basket 

kept going down ” Nat’s voice was hoarse, but 

he couldn’t control his mirth. 

“ The rope slipped some — and the basket stuck 
Ted’s voice was brimming over with apol- 
ogies. 

“ Naturally, we would have entered by the front 
door,” politely explained Gus, “had we foreseen 
this.” 

“You see it stuck,” persisted Ted, apparently 
unable to remember anything but that awful fact. 

“Then it really wasn’t spooks,” asked a tall, 
dark-haired girl, as she joined the group. 

One by one the guests gingerly returned to the 
room and stood about, staring in amusement at 
the boys. The cool, though severe stares of the 
ladies were harder to bear than any rough treat- 
ment that might be accorded them by the men. 
Against the latter they could defend themselves, 
but, as Ned suddenly realized, there is no defence 
for mere man against the amused stare of a lady. 

“ It certainly could be slated at police head- 
quarters as ‘entering’,” calmly said a stout man, 
taking in every detail of the boys’ costumes. “ Dis- 
turbing the peace and several other things.” 

“With intent to do malicious mischief,” the 
man who spoke balanced himself on his heels and 
swung a chrysanthemum to and fro by the stem. 

The minister was walking uneasily about. The 


66 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


bride was on a sofa where she had been lifted to 
come out of her faint. 

In a burst of impatience Ted whispered to Ma- 
bel, whom, for some reason, he did not appear at 
all surprised to see there: “Where’s Dorothy?” 

Mabel, scared and perplexed, shook her head 
solemnly. But, as if in answer to the question, 
Dorothy rushed into the room, her cheeks aglow, 
her hair flying wildly about, and behind her walked 
Dr. Gray. 

Dr. Gray’s kindly smile beamed on the little 
bride, and he soon brought her around. Sitting up, 
she burst into a peal of merry laughter. 

“ What, pray tell me, are they? ” she demanded, 
pointing at the boys. She was still white, but her 
eyes danced, and her small white teeth gleamed 
between red lips. 

“ My cousins,” bravely answered Dorothy. 
Everyone laughed, and the boys, in evident relief, 
shouted. 

“ You’ve come to my wedding! ” exclaimed the 
bride. 

“ Kind of ’em ; wasn’t it? ” said the bridegroom, 
sneeringly. 

“ But we’re going now,” quickly replied Doro- 
thy, with great dignity. 

“Why?” asked the bride with wide open eyes. 
“ Since you are not really spooky creatures, stay 
for the dancing.” 


REAL GHOSTS 67 

‘‘We’re terribly thankful you are not ghosts,” 
chirped a fluffy bridesmaid. 

“You see if you had really been spooks,” 
laughed the bride, “ everyone would have shrieked 
at me that horrible phrase, ‘ I told you so,’ because 
you know I insisted upon being married in this 
house, just to defy superstition.” 

“ Just think what you’ve saved us ! ” said the 
tall, dark-haired girl. 

“Of course if it will be any accommodation,” 
awkwardly put in Ned, “we’ll dance.” He 
thought he had said the perfectly polite thing. 

“ He’s going to dance for us ! ” cried the tall 
girl, to the others in the hall, and everyone crowd- 
ed in. 

An hour later, trudging home in the bright 
moonlight, Dorothy sighed : “ Weren’t they won- 
derful!” 

“ It was decent of them to let us stay and have 
such fun,” commented Ned. 

“And such eats! ” mused Nat. And Nat and 
Ned, with a strangle hold on each other, waltzed 
down the road. 

Happy, but completely tired, the boys and girls 
plowed through the snow, homeward bound. 


CHAPTER VIII 


THE AFTERMATH 

Christmas day, at dusk, the boys were stretched 
lazily before the huge fire in the grate, when Doro- 
thy jumped up excitedly: 

“ Boys, here’s Tavia ! And I declare, Bob Niles 
is with her! ” 

“ Good for Bob ! ” sang out Ned. 

“ ’Rah! ’Rah! ” whooped Ted, and all rushed 
for the door. 

Gaily Tavia hugged them all. Bob stood dis- 
creetly aside. 

“ Father was called away, and it was so dreary 
— I just ran over to see everyone,” gushed Tavia. 

“Well, we’re glad to see you,” welcomed Aunt 
Winnie. 

“Oh, Tavia,” whispered Dorothy, “how did 
you manage to get Bob ? ” 

“ Get whom ? ” Tavia tried to look blank. Dor- 
othy spoiled the blankness by stuffing a large choc- 
68 


THE AFTERMATH 69 

olate cream right into Tavia’s mouth before her 
chum could close it. 

“Thought you’d find Tavia interesting,” grinned 
Ned, helping Bob take off his great ulster, at which 
words the lad addressed flushed to his temples. 

“ Say, fellows, that yarn about the hose ” 

began Nat. 

“ Nat no longer believes in Santa and the stock- 
ings,” chimed in Ned, “ he hung up all his socks 
last night and ” 

Nat glared at Ned, then calmly proceeded: 
“ About the hose, as I was saying, is nonsense ! I 
own some pretty decent-looking socks, as you’ve 
noticed — I hung ’em all up and nary a sock re- 
mained on the line this morning. Santa stole 
them ! ” 

“ It’s the funniest thing about Nat’s socks,” ex- 
plained Dorothy, hastily, “ he thought one pair 
would not hold enough, and so strung them all 
over the fireplace, and this morning they were 
gone ! ” 

Ted hummed a dreamy tune, and stared at the 
beamed ceiling, with a faraway look in his eyes. 
Nat, with sudden suspicion, grabbed Ted’s leg, and 
there, sure enough, was one pair of his highly- 
prized, and highly-colored, socks, snugly covering 
Ted’s ankles. 

A rough and tumble fight followed, and Tavia, 
with high glee, jumped into it. Finally, breathless 


70 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


and panting, they stopped, and demurely Tavia, 
for all the world like a prim little girl in Sunday 
School, sank to a low stool, with Bob at her feet. 
Nothing could be quieter than Tavia, when Tavia 
decided on quietness. 

“We came over in the biggest sleigh we could 
find, ” said Bob, “ so that all could take a drive — 
Mrs. White and Major Dale too, you know.” 

“ Oh, no, the young folks don’t want an old 
fellow like me,” protested Major Dale. 

“ We just do ! ” Dorothy replied, resting her 
head against her father’s arm affectionately. “ We 
simply won’t go unless you and Aunt Winnie 
come.” 

“Why, of course, dear, we’ll go,” answered 
Aunt Winnie, who was never known to stay at 
home when she could go on a trip. As she spoke 
she sniffed the air. “What is that smell, boys?” 

“Something’s burning,” yawned Ted, indiffer- 
ently, just as if things burning in one’s home was 
a commonplace diversion from the daily routine. 

Noses tilted, the boys and girls sniffed the air. 

Suddenly Bob and Nat sprang to Tavia’s side 
and quickly beat out, with their fists, a tiny flame 
that was slowly licking its way along the hem of 
her woollen dress. With her reckless disregard 
of consequences, Tavia had joined in the rough 
and tumble fight with the boys, and, exhausted, had 
rested too near the grate. A flying spark had ig- 


THE AFTERMATH 


7 1 


nited the dress, which smouldered, and only the 
quick work of the boys saved Tavia from possible 
burns. For once she was subdued. Mrs. White 
soothed her with motherly compassion. She was 
always in dread lest Tavia’s reckless spirit would 
cause the girl needless suffering. 

“ You see,” said Bob, smiling at Tavia, as they 
piled into the sleigh and he carefully tucked blank- 
ets about the girls, “ you can’t entirely take cafe 
of yourself — some time you’ll rush into the fire, 
as you did just now.” 

For an instant Tavia’s cheeks flamed. He was 
so masterful! She yearned to slap him, but con- 
sidering the fire escapade, she couldn’t, quite. 

The major was driving, with Dorothy snuggled 
closely to his side, and Ted curled up on the floor. 
Nat took care of Aunt Winnie on the next seat and 
Bob and Tavia were in the rear. 

On they sped over snow and ice, the bitter wind 
sharply cutting their faces, until all glowed and 
sparkled at the touch of it. 

“Did you hear from the girls?” asked Doro- 
thy, turning to Tavia. 

“ Just got Christmas cards,” answered Tavia. 

“ I fared better than that. Cologne wrote a 
fourteen page letter ” 

“ All the news that’s worth printing, as it were,” 
laughed Tavia. 

“Underlined, Cologne asked whether I had 


72 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


heard the news about Mingle, and provokingly 
ended the letter there. I’m still wondering. Her 
departure at such an opportune moment was a 
blessing, but we never stopped to think what might 
have caused it,” said Dorothy, thoughtfully. 

“Well, whatever it was, it saved us,” content- 
edly responded Tavia. “ By the way, Maddie sent 
me the cutest card — painted it herself ! ” 

“ Who wants to ride across the lake? ” demand- 
ed Major Dale, slowing up the horses, “ that will 
save us climbing the hill, you know, and the ice is 
plenty thick enough ; don’t you think so, Winnie ? ” 

“Yes, indeed,” Aunt Winnie answered, ready 
for anything that meant adventure, and as they all 
chorused their assent joyfully, away they drove 
over the snow-covered ice. 

The horses galloped straight across the lake, up 
the bank, and then came a smash! The steeds 
ran into a drift, dumped over the sleigh; and a 
shivering, laughing mass of humanity lay on the 
new, white snow. 

“Such luck! ” cried Tavia, “ out of the fire into 
the snow ! ” 

While Major Dale and the boys righted the 
overturned sleigh, Bob took care of the ladies. 

“You and the girls leave for New York to- 
morrow, Tavia tells me,” said Bob. 

“Yes,” replied Aunt Winnie, with a sigh, “a 
little pleasure trip, and some business.” 


THE AFTERMATH 


73 


“ Business? ” cried Dorothy, closely scrutinizing 
her aunt’s worried face. 

Quick to scent something that sounded very 
much like “ family matters,” Tavia turned with 
Bob, and deliberately started pelting with snow the 
hard-working youths at the sleigh. 

“Aw! Quit! ’’scolded Ted. 

“There, you’ve done it! That one landed in 
my ear! Now, quit it!” Nat stopped working 
long enough to wipe the wet snow from his face. 

But Tavia’s young spirits were not to be 
squelched by mere words ; Bob made the snow balls 
for Tavia to throw, which she continued to do 
with unceasing ardor. 

“Why, yes, Dorothy,” Aunt Winnie replied, 
watching Tavia. “I’m afraid there will be quite 
a bit of business mixed with our New York trip. 
I’m having some trouble. It’s the agent who has 
charge of the apartment house I am interested in 
— you remember, the man whom I did not like.” 

“ The apartment you’ve taken for the Winter? ” 
questioned Dorothy, shivering. 

“You’re cold, dear.” Aunt Winnie, too, shiv- 
ered. “ Run over with Tavia and jump around, it’s 
too chilly to stand still like this. How unfortunate 
we are ! The sun will soon dip behind those hill- 
tops, and the air be almost too frosty for com- 
fort.” 

“ Tell me,” persisted Dorothy, “ what is it that’s 


74 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


worrying you, Aunt Winnie ? I’ve noticed it since 
I came home. I want to be all the assistance I can, 
you know.” 

“You couldn’t help me, Dorothy, in fact, I do 
not even know that I am right about the matter. 
I do not trust the agent, but he had the rent collect- 
ing before I took the place, so I allowed him to 
continue under me. I can only say, Dorothy, that 
something evidently is wrong. My income is not 
what it should be.” 

“ Oh, I’m so sorry ! But, I’m glad you told me. 
Wait until we reach New York — we’ll solve it,” 
and Dorothy pressed her lips together firmly. 

Aunt Winnie laughed. “Don’t talk foolishly, 
dear. It takes a man of wide experience and cun- 
ning to deal with any real estate person, I guess; 
and most of all a New York agent. My dear, let 
us forget the matter. There, the sleigh seems to 
be right side up once more.” 

“Tavia,” whispered Dorothy, as she held her 
friend back,” we’re in for it! Aunt Winnie has a 
mystery on her hands! In New York City! Let 
us see if you and I and the boys can solve it! ” 

“Good! We’ll certainly do it, if you think it 
can be done,” said Tavia. “Oh, good old New 
York town! It makes me dizzy just to think of 
the whirling mass of rushing people and the autos 
and ’buses, and shops and tea-rooms ! Doro, you 


THE AFTERMATH 


75 

must promise that you won’t drag me into more 
than ten tea-rooms in one afternoon! ” 

“I solemnly promise,” returned Dorothy, “If 
you’ll promise me to keep out of shops one whole 
half-hour in each day! ” 


CHAPTER IX 


JUST DALES 

It was three days after Christmas, and what 
was left of the white crystals was fast becoming 
brown mud, and the puddles and rivulets of melt- 
ed snow, very tempting to the small boy, made 
walking almost impossible for the small boy’s 
elders. The air was soft, and as balmy as the first 
days of Spring. One almost expected to hear the 
twittering of a bluebird and the chirp of the robins, 
but nevertheless a grate fire burned brightly in 
Dorothy’s room, with the windows thrown open 
admitting the crisp air and sunlight. 

“Shall I take my messaline dress, Tavia?” 
Dorothy asked, holding the garment in mid-air. 

“ If we go to the opera you’ll want it; I packed 
my only evening gown, that ancient affair in pink,” 
said Tavia, laughing a bit wistfully. 

“You’re simply stunning in that dress, Tavia,” 
said Dorothy. “ Isn’t she, Nat? ” she appealed to 
her cousin. 

“That flowery, pinkish one, with the sash?” 
asked the boy. 


76 


JUST DALES 


77 


“Yes,” said Tavia, “the one that I’ve been 
wearing so long that if I put it out on the front 
steps some evening, it would walk off alone to any 
party or dance in Dalton.” 

“You know,” said Nat, looking at Tavia with 
pride,” when you have that dress on you look like 
a — er — a well, like pictures I’ve seen of — red- 
haired girls,” the color mounted Nat’s brow and 
he looked confused. Dorothy smiled as she turned 
her back and folded the messaline dress, placing it 
carefully in her trunk. Nat was so clumsy at com- 
pliments ! But Tavia did not seem to notice the 
clumsiness, a lovely light leaped to her clear brown 
eyes, and the wistfulness of a moment before van- 
ished as she laughed. 

“ I was warned by everyone in school not to buy 
pink! ” declared Tavia. 

“So, of course,” said Dorothy laughing, “you 
straightway decided on a pink dress. But, serious- 
ly, Tavia, pink is your color, the old idea of au- 
burn locks and greens and browns is completely 
smashed to nothingness, when you wear pink ! Oh 
dear,” continued Dorothy, perplexed, “ where shall 
I pack this wrap? Not another thing will go into 
my trunk.” 

“Are you taking two evening wraps?” asked 
Tavia. 

“ Surely, one for you and the other for me. You 
see this is pink too,” Dorothy held up a soft, silk- 


78 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


lined cape, with a collar of fur. Quick tears 
sprang to Tavia’s eyes, and impulsively she threw 
her arms about Dorothy. 

“ Don’t strangle Dorothy,” objected Nat. 

“You always make me so happy, Doro,” said 
Tavia, releasing her chum, who looked happier 
even than Tavia, her fair face flushed. The hug- 
ging Tavia had given had loosened Dorothy’s 
stray wisps of golden hair, that fell about her 
eyes and ears in a most bewitching way. 

“ Girls,” called Aunt Winnie, from below stairs, 
“ aren’t you nearly finished? ” 

“All finished but Nat’s part,” answered Doro- 
thy. Then to Nat she said: “Now, cousin, sit 
hard on this trunk, and perhaps we’ll be able to 
close it.” 

Nat solemnly perched on the lid of the trunk, 
but it would not close. 

“Something will have to come out,” he de- 
clared. 

“ There is nothing, absolutely nothing, in my 
trunk that I can leave behind,” said Dorothy. 

“My trunk closed very easily,” said Tavia, 
“ I’ll get it up from the station and we’ll pack the 
surplus gowns in it,” she turned triumphantly to 
Dorothy. “Too bad J sent it on so early. But 
we can get it.” 

“ The very thing! ” Dorothy laughed. “ Run, 
Nat, and fetch Tavia’s trunk from the station.” 


JUST DALES 


79 


“ Dorothy,” called Aunt Winnie again, “we 
only have a few hours before train time. Your 
trunk should be ready for the expressman now, 
dear.” 

“ Hurry, Nat,” begged Dorothy, “ you must get 
Tavia’s trunk here in two minutes. Coming,” she 
called down to Aunt Winnie, as she and Tavia 
rushed down the stairs. 

“ The trunk won’t close because the gowns won’t 
fit,” dramatically cried Tavia. 

“ So the boys have gone for Tavia’s, and we’ll 
pack things in it,” hurriedly explained Dorothy. 

“What is all this about gowns?” asked Major 
Dale, drawing Dorothy to the arm of the great 
chair in which he was sitting. 

“ I’m packing, father, we’re going to leave you 
for a while,” said Dorothy, nestling close to his 
broad shoulders. 

“ But not for very long,” Aunt Winnie said. 
“ You and the boys must arrange so that you can 
follow in at least one week.” 

“Well, it all depends on my rheumatism,” an- 
swered the major. “You won’t want an old 
limpy soldier trying to keep pace with you in New 
York City. Mrs. Martin, the tried and true, will 
take fine care of us while, you are gone.” 

“No, that won’t do,,” declared Dorothy, “we 
know how well cared for you will be under Mrs. 
Martin’s wing, but we want you with us. In fact,” 


8o 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


she glanced hastily at Aunt Winnie, “ we may even 
need you.” 

“ Perhaps the best way,” said Aunt Wninie, 
thoughtfully, “ would be to send you a telegram 
when to come, and by that time, you will no doubt 
be all over this attack of rheumatism.” 

“ Ned and Nat are as anxious as are you girlies 
to get there,” replied Major Dale, “ so I’ll make 
a good fight to arrive in New York City.” 

“ Who is going to tell me stories at bed-time, 
when Dorothy’s gone?” asked little Roger. “I 
don’t want Doro to go away, ’cause she’s the best 
sister that any feller ever had.” 

Roger was leaning against the Major’s knee, 
and Dorothy drew him close to her. 

“ Sister will have to send you a story in a letter 
every day. How will that do ? ” she asked, as 
she pressed her cheek against his soft hair. 

“Aw, no,” pouted Roger, “ tell them all to me 
now, before you go away.” 

“ I’ll tell you one and then father will tell one; 
father will tell one about the soldier boys,” mur- 
mured Dorothy in Roger’s ear. 

“Oh, goody,” Roger clapped his hands; “and 
Aunt Winnie and Tavia and Ned and Nat and 
everybody can tell me one story to-night and that 
will fill up for all the nights while you are away! ” 

“ Dorothy! ” screamed Tavia, bursting into the 


JUST DALES 


81 


room in wild excitement, “ the boys have gone 
without my trunk check ! They can’t get it ! ” 
“And the gowns will have to be left behind! ” 
“Never! ” laughed Tavia, “ I’ll run all the way 
to the station and catch them ! ” 

“ They’ve taken the Fire Bird , maybe you’ll 
meet them coming back.” 

Tavia dashed, hatless, from the house. They 
watched her as she fairly flew along the road, in a 
short walking skirt, heavy sweater pulled high 
around her throat, and her red hair gleaming in 
the sun. 

Major Dale had always greatly admired Tavia; 
he liked her fearless honesty and the sincerity of 
her affections. Aunt Winnie, too, loved her al- 
most as much as she loved Dorothy. 

u I’ve wondered so much,” said Dorothy, “what 
trouble Miss Mingle is in. She left school so sud- 
denly that last day, and Cologne was so provoking 
in her letter.” 

“An illness, probably,” said Aunt Winnie, 
kindly. 

“ It can’t be anything so commonplace as ill- 
ness,” said Dorothy. “ Cologne would have gone 
into details about illness. The telegram, and her 
departure, were almost tragic in thir suddenness. 
I feel so selfish when I think of our treatment of 
that meek little woman. No one ever was inter- 
ested in her, that I remember. Her great fault 


82 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


was a too-meek spirit. She literally erased her- 
self and her name from the minds of everyone. ” 

Major Dale and Aunt Winnie listened without 
much enthusiasm. Aunt Winnie was worried 
about Dorothy, who showed so little inclination 
to enter the whirl of society in North Birchland. 
She had looked forward with much pleasure to 
presenting her niece to her social world. 

But Dorothy had little love for the society life 
of North Birchland. She loved her cousins and 
her small brothers, and seemed perfectly happy 
and contented in her home life, and attending to 
the small charities connected with the town. She 
seemed to prefer a hospital to a house party, a 
romp with the boys to a fashionable dance, and she 
bubbled with glee in the company of Tavia, ignor- 
ing the girls of the first families in her neighbor- 
hood. 

“Your trip to New York, daughter,” began 
Major Dale, slily smiling at Aunt Winnie, “will 
be your debut , so to speak, in the world.” 

Dorothy answered nothing, but continued to 
smooth away the hair from Roger’s brow. 

“ What are you thinking of? ” her father asked 
musingly, not having received an answer to his 
first remark. 

“Oh, nothing in particular,” sighed Dorothy, 
“ except that I don’t see why I should make a 
debut anywhere. I don’t want to meet the world, 


JUST DALES 


83 

— that is, socially. I want to know people for them- 
selves, not for what they’re worth financially or 
because of the entertaining they do. I just like 
to know people — and poorer people best of all. 
They are interesting and real.” 

“ As are persons of wealth and social position,” 
answered Aunt Winnie, gently. 

“ I’m going to be a soldier, like father,” said 
Toe, “ and Dorothy can nurse me when I fall in 
battle.” 

“ Me, too,” chirped little Roger, “ I want to be 
a soldier and limp like father! ” 

“ Oh, boys ! ” cried Dorothy, in horror, “ you’ll 
never, never be trained for war.” 

“ What’s that? ” asked Major Dale. “ Don’t 
you want the boys to receive honor and glory in 
the army?” 

“ No,” said Dorothy decidedly, “ I’ll never per- 
mit it. Of course,” she hastened to add, “ if Joe 
must wear a uniform, he might go to a military 
school, if that will please him.” 

The major scoffed at the idea. Joe straight- 
ened his shoulders, and marched about the room, 
little Roger following in his wake, while the major 
whistled “Yankee Doodle.” 

The sound of the Fire Bird was heard coming 
up the driveway, and in another second Nat, Ned 
and Ted rushed into the room. 


84 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 

“We can’t have the trunk without the check.” 
explained Nat, breathlessly, “where is it?” 

“ Tavia discovered the check after you left, and 
she followed you down to the station,” explained 
Aunt Winnie. 

“ We took a short cut back and missed her, of 
course,” said Nat, dejectedly. 

“We won’t have any time to spare,” declared 
Aunt Winnie, walking to the window, “ the train 
leaves at seven-thirty, and it is after six now.” 
Dorothy followed her to the window. They both 
stood still in astonishment. 

“Boys!” cried Dorothy, “come quick!” 

The boys scrambled to the window. There was 
Tavia, coming up the drive, serenely seated on 
top of her trunk, in the back part of a small buggy, 
enjoying immensely the wind that brushed her hair 
wildly about her face, while the driver, the stout- 
est man in North Birchland, occupied the entire 
front seat. 

“ I found it,” she cried lightly jumping to the 
ground, “ and this was the only available rig! ” 

“ Never mind,” said Dorothy, “ nothing counts 
but a place to pack the gowns ! ” 

“ And catch the train for New York City,” cried 
Tavia, from the top landing of the first flight of 
stairs. “Everybody hurry! We have just time 
enough to catch the train ! ” 


CHAPTER X 


SIXTY MILES AN HOUR 

The station at North Birchland was just a; 
brown stone building, and a small platform, sur- 
rounded by a garden, like all country town stations. 
But a more animated crowd of young people had 
rarely gathered anywhere. Dorothy, Tavia and 
Aunt Winnie were noticeable among the crowd, 
their smart traveling suits and happy smiling faces 
being good to look upon. Ned, who was to accom- 
pany his mother, stood guard over the bags, while 
they were being checked by the station master, 
Nat, Ted and Bob, who had come to see them off, 
pranced about, impatient for the train, and alto- 
gether they were making such a racket that an 
elderly lady picked up her bag and shawls, and 
quickly searched for a quieter part of the station. 
It was such a long time since the elderly lady had 
been young and going on a journey, that she com- 
pletely forgot all about the way it feels, and how 
necessary it is to laugh and chatter noisily on such 
occasions. 


85 


86 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


Nat looked in Tavia’s direction constantly, and 
at last succeeded in attracting her attention. He 
appeared so utterly miserable that instinctively 
Tavia slipped away from the others, and walked 
with him toward the end of the station. But this 
did not make Bob any happier. He devoted him- 
self to Dorothy and Aunt Winnie, casting long- 
ing glances at Nat and Tavia. Dorothy was 
charming in a traveling coat of blue, and a small 
blue hat and veil gracefully tilted on her bright 
blond hair, a coquettish quill encircling her hat and 
peeping over her ear. Tavia was dressed in a 
brown tailored suit, and a lacy dotted brown veil 
accentuated the pink in her cheeks and the bright- 
ness of her eyes. 

A light far down the track told of the ap- 
proaching train. Joe and Roger were having an 
argument as to who saw the gleam first and Major 
Dale had to come to the rescue and be umpire. 
As the rumble and roar grew nearer, and the light 
became bigger, the excitement of the little group 
became intense. With a great, loud roar and hiss- 
ing, the train stopped and the coach on which they 
had engaged berths was just in front of them. 

“The Yellow Flyer ” read Joe, carefully, “is 
that where you will sleep?” he asked, looking in 
wonder at the car. 

“Yes, indeed, Joey,” said Dorothy, kissing him 


SIXTY MILES AN HOUR 87 

good-bye, “ in cunning little beds, hanging from 
the sides of the coach.” 

Dorothy held out her hand to Bob. “ Good- 
bye,” she said. Tavia, just behind Dorothy, glanc- 
ing quickly up at Bob, blushed as she placed her 
slim hand in his large brown one. 

“You’re coming to New York, too, with the 
boys?” she asked, demurely. 

Bob held her hand in his strong grip and it hurt 
her, as he said very stiffly: “ I don’t know that I 
shall.” With a toss of her head, Tavia started up 
the steps of the coach, but Bob following, still held 
her hand tightly, and she stopped. All the others 
were on the train. She looked straight into his 
eyes and said: “We’re going to have no end of 
fun, you know.” Bob released her hand. Stand- 
ing in the vestible, Tavia turned once more: 
“Please come,” she called to him, then rushed 
into the train and joined the others. 

When the cars pulled out, the last thing Tavia 
saw was Bob’s uncovered head and Nat’s waving 
handkerchief, and she smiled at both very sweetly. 
Then they waved their handkerchiefs until dark- 
ness swallowed up the little station. 

The girls looked about them. A sleeping car! 
Tavia thrilled with pleasant anticipation. It was 
all so very luxurious! Aunt Winnie almost im- 
mediately discovered an old acquaintance sitting 
directly opposite. The lady, very foreign in man- 


88 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


ner and attire, held a tiny white basket under her 
huge sable muff. She gushed prettily at the unex- 
pected pleasure of having Aunt Winnie for a trav- 
elling companion. Tavia thought she must be the 
most beautiful lady in all the world, and both she 
and Dorothy found it most disconcerting to be 
ushered into a sleeping car filled with staring peo- 
ple, and be introduced to so lovely a creature as 
Aunt Winnie’s friend. The beautiful lady whis- 
pered mysteriously to Aunt Winnie, and pointed 
to the hidden basket and instantly a saucy growl 
came from it. 

“ A dog,” gasped Dorothy, “why, they don’t 
permit dogs on a Pullman ! ” 

“ Let’s get a peep at him,” said Tavia, “the little 
darling, to go traveling just like real people ! ” 

Immediately following the growl, the lady and 
Aunt Winnie sat in dignified silence, and stared 
blankly at the entire car. 

“They’re making believe,” whispered Tavia, 
“ pretending there isn’t any dog, and that no one 
heard a growl ! ” 

“I’m simply dying to see the little fellow!” 
said Dorothy, unaware that the future held an op- 
portunity to see the dog that now reposed in the 
basket. 

“Well, Dorothy,” said Tavia, “according to 
the looks across the aisle ‘there ain’t no dog,’ ” 


SIXTY MILES AN HOUR 89 

Tavia loved an expressive phrase, regardless of 
grammatical rules. 

“Did Ned get on?” suddenly asked Dorothy. 
“ I don’t see him.” 

“He’s on,” answered Tavia, disdainfully, “in 
the smoker. Didn’t you hear him beg our permis- 
sion? ” 

After an hour had passed Aunt Winnie came 
toward them and said: 

“Don’t you think it best to retire now, girls? 
You have a strenuous week before you.” 

Dorothy and Tavia readily agreed, as neither 
had found much to keep them awake. Many of 
the passengers had already retired, some of them 
immediately after the last stop was made. Tavia 
could not remain quiet and happy too, where 
there was no excitement. She preferred to sleep 
peacefully — and strangely, the Pullman sleeper 
offered no fun even to an inventive mind like 
Tavia’s. 

“Ned might have stayed with us,” sighed 
Dorothy. “ Boys are so selfish.” 

“Wouldn’t you like to go into the smoker 
too? ” suggested Tavia. 

“What! Tavia Travers, you’re simply too 
awful ! ” cried Dorothy. 

“ Oh, just to keep awake. After all, I find I 
have a yearning to stay up. All in favor of the 


9 o DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 

smoker say ‘Aye.’ ” And a lone “ Aye ” came from 
Tavia. 

“ Besides,” said Dorothy, “ the porter wouldn’t 
permit it.” 

“ Unless we carried something in our hands 
that looked like a pipe,” mused Tavia. 

“We might take Ned some matches,” rejoined 
Dorothy, seeing that the subject offered a little 
variety. 

“ When the porter takes down our berths, we’ll 
quietly suggest it, and see how it takes,” said Tav- 
ia. “ Along with feeling like storming the smoker, 
I’m simply dying for a weeny bit of ice-cream.” 

“ Tavia,” said Dorothy, trying to speak severe- 
ly, “ I think you must be having a nightmare, such 
unreasonable desires! ” 

“So,” yawned Tavia, “I’ll have to go to bed 
hungry, I suppose.” 

“ Do you really want ice-cream as badly as 
that?” 

“ I never yearned so much for anything.” 

Dorothy was rather yearning for ice-cream her- 
self, since it had been suggested, but she knew it 
was an utter impossibility. The dining car was 
closed, and how to secure it, Dorothy could not 
think. However, she called the porter, and, while 
he was taking down their hearths, she and Tavia 
went over to say good-night to Aunt Winnie and 
her friend. 


SIXTY MILES AN HOUR 


9i 


“ I’ll try not to awaken you, girls, when I re- 
tire,” said Aunt Winnie. “Ned’s berth, by a strange 
coincidence, is the upper one in Mrs. Sanderson’s 
section. Years ago, Mrs. Sanderson and myself 
occupied the same section in a Pullman for an en- 
tire week, and it was the beginning of a delightful 
friendship.” 

Mrs. Sanderson told the girls about her present 
trip, but Tavia was so hungry for the ice-cream, 
and Dorothy so busy trying to devise some means 
to procure it, that they missed a very interesting 
story from the beautiful lady. 

Then, returning to their berths, Tavia climbed 
the ladder, and everything was quiet. 

“Dorothy,” she whispered, her head dangling 
over the side of the berth, “ peep out and find the 
porter. I must have ice-cream.” 

“Why, Tavia?” asked Dorothy. 

“Just because,” answered Tavia in the most 
positive way. 

Dorothy and Tavia both looked out from be- 
hind their curtains. Every other one was drawn 
tightly, save two, for Aunt Wninie and her friend 
and Ned, who had come back, were the only pass- 
engers still out of their berths. Ned winked at the 
girls when their heads appeared. 

Holding up a warning finger at Ned, who faced 
them, the girls stole out of their section and crept 
silently toward the porter. In hurried whispers 


92 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


they consulted him, but the porter stood firm and 
unyielding. They could not be served with any- 
thing after the dining car closed. 

So they then descended to coaxing. Just one 
girl pleading for ice-cream might have been re- 
sisted, but when two sleep-eyed young creatures, 
begged so pitifully to be served with it at once, the 
porter threw up his hands and said: 

“ Ah’ll see if it can be got, but Ah ain’t got no 
right fo’ to git it tho ! ” 

Soon, he reappeared with two plates of ice- 
cream. Tavia took one plate in both hands hun- 
grily, and Dorothy took the other. When they 
looked at Aunt Winnie’s back, Ned stared, but 
Aunt Winnie was too deeply interested in her old 
friend to care what Ned was staring at. 

“ Duck! ” cautioned Tavia, who was ahead of 
Dorothy, as she saw Aunt Winnie suddenly turn 
her head. They slipped into the folds of a near- 
by curtain, but sprang instantly back into the centre 
of the aisle. Snoring, deep and musical, sounded 
directly into their ears from behind the curtain, 
and even Tavia’s love of adventure quailed at the 
awful nearness of the sound. One little lurch and 
they would have landed in the arms of the snoring 
one ! 

Just to make the ice-cream taste better, Aunt 
Winnie again turned partly. Dorothy and Tavia 
stood still, unable to decide whether it was wise to 


SIXTY MILES AN HOUR 


93 


retreat or advance. Ned solved it for them by 
rising and waiting for the girls. Aunt Winnie, of 
course, turned all the way around and discovered 
the two girls hugging each other, in silent mirth. 

“ Tavia would have cream,” explained Dorothy. 

“ But it would have tasted so much better had 
we eaten it without being found out,” said Tavia, 
woefully. 

“ Just look at this,” said Ned, “ and maybe the 
flavor of the cream will be good enough,” and he 
handed the girls a check marked in neat, small 
print, which the porter had handed him : “ Two 

plates of ice-cream, at 75 cents each, $1.50.” 

“ How outrageous!” cried Dorothy. 

“ We’ll return it immediately,” said Tavia, in- 
dignantly. 

“ I paid it,” explained Ned, drily. “ You want- 
ed something outside of meal hours, and you 
might have expected to have the price raised.” 

“ At that cost each spoonful will taste abomina- 
ble,” moaned Tavia. 

Said Dorothy sagely: “It won’t taste at all if 
we don’t eat it instantly. It’s all but melted now.” 

“ Yes, pray eat it,” said the gruff voice of a man 
behind closed curtains,” so the rest of us can get 
to sleep.” 

Another voice, with a faint suggestion of stifling 
laughter, said: “ I’m in no hurry to sleep, under- 


94 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


stand; still I engaged the berth for that pur- 
pose ” 

But Dorothy and Tavia had fled, and heard no 
more comments. Aunt Winnie followed. 

“ How ridiculous to want ice-cream at such an 
hour, and in such a place ! ” she said. 

“Old melted stuff,” complained Tavia, “it 
tastes like the nearest thing to nothing I’ve ever 
attempted to eat ! ” 

“And, Auntie,” giggled Dorothy, “we paid 
seventy-five cents per plate! I'm drinking mine; 
it’s nothing but milk ! ” 

Soon the soft breathing of Aunt Winnie de- 
noted the fact that she had slipped silently into the 
land of dreams. Dorothy, too, was asleep, and 
Tavia alone remained wide-awake, listening to 
the noise of the cars as the train sped over the 
country. Tavia sighed. She had so much to be 
thankful for, she was so much happier than she 
deserved to be, she thought. One fact stood out 
clearly in her mind. Sometime, somehow, she 
would show Dorothy how deeply she loved and 
admired her, above everyone else in the world. 
After all, a sincere, unselfish love is the best one 
can give in return for unselfish kindness. 

The next thing Tavia knew, although it seemed 
as if she had only just finished thinking how much 
she loved Dorothy, a tiny streak of sunlight shone 
across her face. She sat bolt upright, confused 


SIXTY MILES AN HOUR 


95 


and mystified, in her narrow bed so near the roof. 
The sleepy mist left her eyes, and with a bound she 
landed on the edge of her berth, her feet dangling 
down over the side of it. The train was not mov- 
ing, and peeping out of the ventilator, she saw that 
they were in a station, and an endless row of other 
trains met her gaze. 

“ Good morning ! ” she sang out to Dorothy, 
but the only answer was the echo of her own voice. 
Some few seconds passed, and Tavia was musing 
on what hour of the morning it might be, when a 
perfectly modulated voice said: “Anything yo’-all 
wants, Miss? ” 

“ Gracious, no ! Oh, yes I do. What time is 
it? ” she asked. 

“ Near on to seven o’clock,” said the porter. 

“Thank you,” demurely answered Tavia, and 
started to dress. All went well until she climbed 
down the ladder for her shoes and picked up a 
beautifully-polished, but enormous number eleven! 
She looked again, Aunt Winnie’s very French 
heeled kid shoes and Dorothy’s stout walking 
boots and one of her own shoes were there, but 
her right shoe was gone ! 

She held up the number eleven boot and con- 
templated it severely. To be sure both her feet 
would have fitted snugly into the one big shoe, but 
that wasn’t the way Tavia had intended making 
her debut in New York City. She looked down 


96 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


the aisle and saw shoes peeping from under every 
curtain, and some stood boldly in the aisle. The 
porter at the end of the car dozed again, and Tav- 
ia, the number eleven in hand, started on a still 
hunt for her own shoe. 

She passed several pairs of shoes, but none were 
hers. At the end of the car, she jumped joyfully 
on a pair, only to lay them down in disappoinment. 
They were exactly like hers, but her feet had 
developed somewhat since her baby days, whereas 
the owner of these shoes still retained her baby 
feet, little tiny number one shoes ! On she went, 
bending low over each pair. At last! Tavia 
dropped the shoe she was carrying beside its mate ! 
At least that was some relief, she would not now 
have to face the owner in her shoeless condition 
and return to his outstretched hand his number 
eleven. 

Tavia thought anyone with such a foot would 
naturally feel embarrassed to be found out. Now 
for her own. She stooped cautiously, deeply inter- 
ested in her mission, under the curtain and a heavy 
hand was laid on her shoulder. She looked up in 
dazed astonishment into the dark face of the por- 
ter. Mercy ! did he think she was trying to enter 
the berth? She realized, instantly, how suspicious 
her actions must have appeared. 

“Please find my shoe!” she commanded, 
haughtily, “ it is not in my berth.” 


SIXTY MILES AN HOUR 


97 


The porter released her. “Yo’ done leave ’em 
fo’ me to be polished? ” he inquired, respectfully. 

“ No, indeed,” replied Tavia, trying to main- 
tain her haughty air, “ it has simply disappeared, 
and I must have two shoes, you*know.” 

“O’ course,” solemnly answered the porter. 

“Tavia,” called Dorothy’s voice, “what is the 
trouble ? ” 

“Nothing at all,” calmly answered Tavia, 
“ I’ve lost a shoe; a mere nothing, dear.” 

One by one the curtains moved, indicating per- 
sons of bulk on the other side, trying to dress with- 
in the narrow limits, and the murmur of voices 
rose higher. Shoes were drawn within the cur- 
tains and soon there were none left, and Tavia 
stood in dismay. Aunt Winnie, Dorothy and Ned 
and lovely Mrs. Sanderson joined Tavia, others 
stood attentively and sympathetically looking on 
while they searched all over the car, dodging under 
seats, pulling out suit-cases and poking into the 
most impossible places, in an endeavor to locate 
Tavia’s lost shoe. 

A sharp, sudden bark and Mrs. Sanderson re- 
turned in confusion to her section and smothered 
the protests of her dog. She called Ned to help 
her put him into his little white basket, at which 
doggie loudly rebelled. He had had his freedom 
for an entire night, running up and down the aisle, 
playing with the good-natured porter. 


98 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


Doggie played hide-and-seek under the berths 
and dragged various peculiar-looking black things 
back and forth in his playful scampering and he 
did not intend to return to any silk-lined basket 
after such a wild night of fun! So he barked 
again, saucy, snappy barks, then he growled fierce- 
ly at everyone who came near him. In fact, one of 
the peculiar-looking black things at that very mo- 
ment was lying in wait for him, expecting him 
back to play with it, and just as soon as he could 
dodge his mistress, doggie expected to rejoin it, 
reposing in a dark corner of the car. At last he 
saw his opportunity, and with a mad dash, the ter- 
rier ran down the aisle, determination marking 
every feature, as pretty Mrs. Sanderson started 
after him, and Ned followed. Tavia sat discon- 
solately in her seat, wondering what anyone, even 
the most resourceful, could do with but one shoe ! 

A sudden howl of mirth from Ned, and an 
amused, light laugh from Mrs. Sanderson, and, 
back they came, Ned gingerly holding the little 
terrier and Mrs. Sanderson triumphantly holding 
forth Tavia’s shoe. By this time every passenger 
had left the car, and the cleaning corps stood wait- 
ing for Aunt Winnie’s party to vacate the vehicle. 

Tavia put on the shoe, but first she shook the 
terrier and scolded him. He barked and danced 
up and down, as though he were the hero of the 
hour. 


SIXTY MILES AN HOUR 


99 

“ We must get out of here, double-quick,” said 
Ned. 

“ Oh, dear me ! ” exclaimed Dorothy, “ where 
is everything! I never can grab my belongings to- 
gether in time to get off a train.” 

“ I’m not half dressed,” chirped Tavia, cheer- 
fully, “ and they will simply have to stand there 
with the mops and brooms, until I’m ready.” 

Aunt Winnie sat patiently waiting. “ Do you 
want to go uptown in the subway or the ’bus,” she 
asked. 

“ Both! ” promptly answered the young people. 


CHAPTER XI 


A HOLD-ON IN NEW YORK 

“My! Isn’t it hard to hang on!” breathed 
Tavia, clinging to Dorothy, as the subway train 
swung rapidly around the curves. As usual the 
morning express was crowded to overflowing, and 
the “overflowers” were squeezed tightly together 
on the platforms. Ned held Aunt Winnie by the 
arm and looked daggers at the complacent New 
Yorkers who sat behind the morning papers, un- 
able to see any persons who might want their seats. 

“Such unbearable air! It always makes me 
faint,” said Aunt Winnie, weakly. 

“ Let’s get out as quickly as possible,” said Dor- 
othy, “ the top of a ’bus for mine ! ” 

“ So diis is a subway train,” exclaimed Tavia, as 
she was lurched with much force against an ath- 
letic youth, who simply braced himself on his feet, 
and saved Tavia from falling. 

“The agony will be over in a second,” exclaimed 
Ned, as the guard yelled in a most bewildering 
way, “ next stop umphgetoughly ! ” and another in 

ioo 


A HOLD-ON IN NEW YORK ioi 

the middle of the train, screamed in a perfectly 
unintelligent manner, “next stop fothburge- 
dinskt !” 

“ What did he say? ” said Tavia, wonderingly. 

“ He must have said Forty-second Street,” said 
Aunt Winnie, “ that I know is the next stop.” 

“ I would have to ride on indefinitely,” said 
Tavia, “ I could never understand such eloquence.” 

“ There,” said Dorothy, readjusting herself, “ I 
expected to be hurled into someone’s lap sooner 
or later, but I didn’t expect it so soon.” 

“ You surely landed in his lap,” laughed Tavia, 
“ see how he’s blushing. Why don’t you hang 
onto Ned, as we are doing.” 

“Poor Ned,” said Dorothy, but she, too, 
grasped a portion of his arm, and like grim death 
the three women clung to Ned for protection 
against the merciless swaying of the subway train. 

Reaching Forty-second Street, up the steps they 
dashed with the rest of the madly rushing crowd 
of people and out into the open street. Tavia 
tried to keep her mouth closed, because all the car- 
toons she had ever seen of a country person’s first 
glimpse of New York pictured them open- 
mouthed, and staring. She clung to Dorothy and 
Dorothy hung on Aunt Winnie, who had Ned’s 
arm in a firm grip. 

Such crowds of human beings ! Neither Dorothy 
nor Tavia had ever before seen so many people 


102 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


at one glance ! So many people were not in Dal- 
ton in an entire year. 

“This isn’t anything,” said Ned, out of his 
superior knowledge of a previous trip to New 
York. “ This is only a handful — the business 
crowd.” 

“ Oh, let’s stay in front of the Grand Central 
Terminal,” said Dorothy, “I want to finish 
counting the taxicabs, I was only up to thirty.” 

u I only had time to count five stories in that big 
hotel building,” cried Tavia, “ and I want to count 
’em right up into the clouds.” 

“They’re not tall buildings,” said Ned, just 
bursting with information. “ Wait until you see 
the downtown skyscrapers 1 ” 

“Ned throws cold water on all our little en- 
thusiasms,” pouted Dorothy. 

“Never mind,” said Aunt Winnie, “you and 
Tavia can come down town to-morrow and spend 
the day counting people and things.” 

Arriving at the corner of Fifth Avenue, and suc- 
cessfully dodging many vehicles, they got safely 
on the opposite corner just in time to catch a 
speeding auto ’bus. Up to the roof they climbed. 

“Isn’t it too delightful!” sighed Tavia, bliss- 
fully. 

“We’ll come down town on a ’bus every day,” 
declared Dorothy. 


A HOLD-ON IN NEW YORK 


103 


They passed all the millionaires’ palatial resi- 
dences in blissful ignorance of whom the palaces 
sheltered. They didn’t care which rich man oc- 
cupied one mansion or another, they were happy 
enough riding on top of a ’bus. 

Tavia simply gushed when they reached the 
Drive and a cutting sharp breeze blew across the 
Hudson river. 

“ I never imagined New York City had any- 
thing so lovely as this; I thought it was all tall 
buildings and smoky atmosphere and — lights ! ” 
declared Tavia. 

Along the river all was quiet and luxurious and 
wonderful. The auto ’bus stopped before a small 
apartment house — that is, it was small compara- 
tively. The front was entirely latticed glass and 
white marble. A bell boy rushed forward to re- 
lieve them of their bags, another took their wraps 
and a third respectfully held open the reception 
hall door. Down this hall, lined on two sides 
with growing plants, Aunt Winnie’s party marched 
in haughty silence. They were afraid to utter 
an unseemly word. Tavia’s little chin went up 
into the air — the bell boys were very appalling — 
but they shouldn’t know of the visitors’ suburban 
origin if Tavia could help it. They were assisted 
on the elevator by a dignified liveried man, and 
up into the air thev shot, landing, breathless, in 
a perfectly equipped tiny hall. At home, of course, 


104 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 

one would call it a tiny hall, but in a New York 
apartment house it was spacious and roomy. 

Still another person, this time a woman, in spot- 
less white, opened the door and into the door 
Aunt Winnie disappeared, and the others fol- 
lowed, although they were not at all sure it was 
the proper thing to do. 

Then Tavia gasped. In her loveliest dreams of 
a home, she had never dreamed of anything as 
perfectly beautiful as this. Little bowers of pink 
and white, melted into other little rooms of gold 
and green and blue, and then a velvety stretch of 
something, which Tavia afterward discovered was 
a hall, led them into a kitchenette. 

“ Do people eat here?” said the dazed Tavia. 

“ One must eat, be the furnishings ever so 
luxurious,” sang Ned. 

Dorothy rushed immediately to the tiny cup- 
board, and examined the Mother Goose pattern 
breakfast dishes, while Tavia gazed critically at 
the numerous mysterious doors leading hither and 
thither through the apartment. 

They gathered together, finally, in the living 
room, which faced the river. The heavy draperies 
subdued the strong sunlight. 

Mrs. White sighed the happy sigh that betokens 
rest, as she sank into a Turkish chair. Dorothy 
and Tavia were not ready to sit down yet — there 
was too much to explore. From their high place, 


A HOLD-ON IN NEW YORK 105 

there above the crowds, and seemingly in the 
clouds, they could see something akin to human 
beings moving about everywhere, even, it seemed, 
out along the river drive. For a brief time no 
one spoke; then Ned “proverbially” broke the 
silence. 

“Well, Mom,” he emitted, “what is it all 
about? Did you just come into upholstered stor- 
age to have new looking glasses? Or is there a 
system in this insanity? ” 

Mrs. White smiled indulgently. Ned was be- 
ginning to take an interest in things. He must 
surmise that her trip to New York was not one of 
mere pleasure. 

The girls, unconsciously discreet, had left the 
room. 

“ My dear son,” said the lady, now in a soft 
robe, just rescued from her suit-case, “ I am glad 
to see that you are trying to help me. You know 
the Court Apartments, the one I hold purposely for 
you and Nat?” He nodded. “Well, the agent 
has been acting queerly. In fact, I have reason 
to question his honesty. He is constantly refusingi 
to make reports. Says that rents have come down, 
when everyone else says they have gone up. He 
also declares some of the tenants are in arrears. 
Now, if we are to have so much trouble with the 
investment, we shall have to get rid of it.” 


10 6 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


The remark was in the note of query. Nat 
brushed his fingers through his heavy hair. 

“Well, Mom,” he said impressively, “we must 
look it over carefully, but I have always heard that 
New York real estate men — of a certain type — 
observe the certain and remember the type — are 
not always to be trusted. I wouldn’t ask better 
sport than going in for detective work on the half- 
shell. But say, this is some apartment! I suppose 
I may have it some evening for a little round- 
up of my New York friends ? You know so many 
of the fellows seem to blow this way.” 

“ Of course you may, Ned. I shall be glad to 
help you.” 

“Oh, you couldn’t possibly do that, mother,” 
he objected. “There is only one way to let boys 
have a good time and that is to let them have it. 
If one interferes it’s ‘good-night’,” and he paused 
to let the pardonable slang take effffect. 

“Just as you like, of course,” said the mother, 
without the least hint of offence. “ I know I can 
depend upon you not to — eat the rugs or chairs. 
They are only hired, you know.” 

“ Never cared for that sort of food. In fact I 
don’t even like the feel of some of these,” and he 
rubbed his hand over the side of a plush chair.” 
Nothing like the home stuffs, Mom.” 

“ You are not disappointed?” 

“ Oh, no, not that. Only trying to remember 


A HOLD-ON IN NEW YORK 


107 


what home is like. It kind of upsets one’s memory 
to take a trip and get here. I wonder what the 
girls are up to? You stay here while I inspect.” 

Mrs. White was not sorry of the respite. She 
looked out over the broad drive. It was some 
years since her husband had taken her to a pretty 
little apartment in this city. The thought was 
absorbing. But it was splendid that she had two 
such fine boys. Yes, she must not complain, for 
both boys were in many ways like their father, 
upright to the point of peril, daring to the point 
of personal risk. 

The maid, she who had come in advance from 
North Birchland, stepped in with the soft tread of 
the professional nurse to close the doors. Some- 
thing must be going on in the kitchenette. Well, 
let the children play, thought Mrs. White. 

Suddenly she heard something like a shriek! 
Even then she did move. If there were danger 
to any one in the apartment she would soon know 
it — the old reliable adage — no news is good news, 
when someone shrieks. 


CHAPTER XII 


HUMAN FREIGHT ON THE DUMMY 

Tavia almost fell over Ned. Dorothy grasped 
the door. The maid ruffled up her nice white 
apron ! 

They all scrambled into the living room and 
there was more, for with them, in fact, in Ned’s 
strong arms, was a child, a boy with blazing cheeks 
and defiant eyes. 

“Look, mother! He came up on the dumb 
waiter! ” said Ned, as soon as he could speak. 

“Yes, and I nearly killed him,” blurted Tavia. 
“ I thought the place was haunted ! ” 

“On the dumb waiter?” repeated Dorothy. 

The maid nodded her head decidedly. 

“ Why ! ” ejaculated Mrs. White, sitting up very 
straight. 

“I didn’t mean anything,” said the boy, re- 
flecting good breeding in choice of language, if 
not in manner of transportation. “ I was just com- 
ing up to fly kites.” 

“ But on the dummy! ” queried Ned. 

“ Well, we wouldn’t dare come up any other way. 

108 


HUMAN FREIGHT ON THE DUMMY 109 

This apartment was not rented before and we had 
to sneak in on the janitor. This is the best lobby 
for kites,” and his eyes danced at the thought. 

“ But where’s the kite? ” questioned Ned. 

“ Talent’s got it.” 

“Talent? ” repeated Dorothy. 

“Yes, he’s the other fellow — the smartest fel- 
low around. His real name — ” he paused to 
laugh. 

“ Is what? ” begged Tavia, coming over to the 
little fellow, with no hidden show of admiration. 

“It’s too silly, but he didn’t choose it,” apolo- 
gized the boy. “ It’s C-l-a-u-d ! ” 

“ That’s a pretty name,” interposed Mrs. 
White, feeling obliged to say something agree- 
able. 

“ But he can’t bear it,” declared the boy. “ My 
name is worse. Mother brought it from Rome.” 

“ Catacombs? ” suggested Tavia, foolishly. 

“ No,” the lad lowered his voice in disgust. 
“ But it’s Raphael.” 

“That was the name of a great painter,” said 
Mrs. White, again feeling how difficult it was to 
talk to a small and enterprising New York boy. 

“ Maybe,” admitted the little one, “but I have 
Raffle from the boys, and that’s all right. Means 
going off all the time.” 

Everyone laughed. Raffle looked uneasily at 
the door. 


no 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


“ But where’s that kite?” questioned Ned. 

“ Talent was waiting until I got up. Then I was 
to pull him up. He has the kites.” 

“As long as I didn’t kill you, Raffle,” said 
Tavia, “I guess we won’t have to have you ar- 
rested for false entering.” 

“Dorothy caught the rope just in time,” Ned 
explained, in answer to his mother’s look of in- 
quiry. “ Tavia was so scared she was going to let 
it drop.” 

“We had ordered things,” Tavia explained 
further, “ and thought they were coming up. I 
was just crazy to have something to do with all 
the machines in the place, so went to get the 
things. Imagine me seeing something squirm in 
the dark! ” 

“ But you weren’t afraid,” said Raffle to Doro- 
thy. “ You just hauled me out.” 

“Your coat got torn,” Dorothy remarked to 
divert attention. “ What will your mother say? ” 

“ She will never see it,” declared the little fel- 
low. “ She goes to rehearsal all day and sings all 
night. Tillie — she’s the girl — she likes me. She 
won’t mind mending it,” and he bunched together 
in his small hand the hole in the short coat. 

“ I’ll tell you,” interposed Ned, “ they say dark 
haired people fetch good luck, and you are our 
first caller. Suppose we get Talent, and bring 
him up properly, kites and all. Then perhaps, 


HUMAN FREIGHT ON THE DUMMY m 


when I get something to eat, you may show me 
how to fly a kite over the Hudson.” 

“ Bully! ” exclaimed Raffle. “ I’ll get him right 
away. If John — the janitor — catches him waiting 
with the kites — ” 

But he was gone with the rest of the sentence. 

Ned slapped his knees in glee. Tavia stretched 
out full length, shoes and all, on the rose-colored 
divan, Dorothy shook with merry laughter, but 
Martha, the maid with the ruffled-up apron, 
turned to the kitchenette to hide her emotion. 

“New York is certainly a busy place,” said 
Ned, finally. “ We may get a wireless from home 
on the clothes line. Tavia, I warn you not to 
hang handkerchiefs on the roof. It’s tabooed, 
for — country girls.” 

Tavia groaned in disagreement. The fact was 
she had made her way to the roof before she had 
explored her own and Dorothy’s rooms, and even 
Ned did not relish the idea of her sight-seeing 
from that dangerous height. But New York was 
actually fascinating Tavia. She would likely be 
looking for “bulls and bears” on Wall Street 
next, thought Ned. 

“ Aunty, we are going to have the nicest lunch,” 
interrupted Dorothy. “ We all helped Martha ; it 
was hard to find things, and get the right dishes, 
you know. I guess the last folks who had this 


1 12 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


apartment must have had a Chinese cook, for 
everything is put away backwards.” 

“ Yes, the pans were on the top shelves and the 
cups on the bottom,” Tavia agreed. “ I took to 
the pans — I love to climb on those queer ladders 
that roll along ! ” 

“Like silvery moonlight,” Ned helped out, 
“ only the clouds won’t develop.” 

“Wouldn’t I give a lot to have had all the 
boys share this fun,” said Dorothy. Then, realiz- 
ing the looks that followed the word “boys,” she 
blushed peach-blow. 

A Japanese gong sounded gently in the place 
called hall. 

“There’s the lunch bell,” declared Dorothy. 
“ And isn’t that little Aeolian harp on the sitting 
room door too sweet! ” 

“ The sitting room is a private room in an 
apartment,” explained Ned, mischieviously, “and 
it’s a great idea to have an alarm clock on the 
door.” 

“There comes the boy with the kite,” Tavia 
exclaimed. “ I don’t believe I care for lunch.” 

“Oh, yes you do, my dear,” objected Mrs. 
White. “ There are two boys and we will have 
to trust them on the balcony with their kites. The 
rail is quite high, and they look rather well able 
to take care of themselves.” 

4 Tavia looked longingly at the boys, who now 


HUMAN FREIGHT ON THE DUMMY 113 

were making their way to what Dorothy had 
termed the Dove Cote. Ned insisted upon post- 
poning his lunch until they got their strings both un- 
tied and tied again — first from the stick then to the 
rail. Martha said things would be cold, but Ned 
was obdurate. 

At last Mrs. White and her guests were seated 
at the polished table in the green and white 
room. She glanced about approvingly, while 
Martha brought in the dishes. 

“ I made the pudding, ” Dorothy confessed. “ I 
remember our old housekeeper used to make that 
Brown Betty out of stale cake, and as Martha 
could get no other kind of cake handy I thought 
it would do.” 

“A cross between pudding, cake and pie,” re- 
marked Tavia, “ but mostly sweet gravy. It smells 
good, however. And I — cleaned the lettuce. If 
you get any little black bugs — lizards or snails — ” 

“ Oh, Tavia, don’t!” protested Dorothy, who at 
that moment was in the act of putting a lettuce 
leaf between her lips. 

“ But I was only going to say that these reptiles 
had been properly bathed and are perfectly whole- 
some. In fact they have been sterilized.” Tavia 
said, calmly. 

“At any rate,” put in Mrs. White, “you all 
have succeeded in getting a very nice luncheon to- 
gether. I had no idea you and Dorothy could be 


1 14 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 

so useful. We might have gotten along with one 
more maid to help Martha. Then we would have 
had more house room.” 

“ I should think you could get the janitor to do 
odd jobs,” suggested Tavia, over a mouthful of 
broiled steak. 

“Janitor! ” exclaimed Mrs. White. “ My dear, 
you do not know New York janitors! They are 
a set of aristocrats all by themselves. We will 
have to look out that we please the janitor, or we 
may go without service a day or two just for 
punishment.” 

“Then I will have to be awfully nice to ours,” 
went on Tavia, in the way she had of always 
inviting trouble of one kind if not exactly the kind 
under discussion. “ I saw him. He has the 
lovliest red cheeks. Looks like a Baldwin apple 
left over from last year.” 

A rush through the apartment revealed Ned 
and the two kite boys. 

“Anything left?” asked Ned. “These two 
youngsters have to wait until two o’clock for a 
bite to eat, and I thought — ” 

“Of course,” interrupted his mother, pleasant- 
ly, as she touched the bell for Martha. “We 
will set plates for them at once. Glad to have 
our neighbors so friendly.” 

The little fellows did not look one bit abashed 
— another sign of New York, Dorothy noted 


HUMAN FREIGHT ON THE DUMMY 115 


mentally. Talent, or Tal, as they called him, man- 
aged to get on the same chair with Raffle, as they 
waited for the extra places to be made at the 
table. 

Tavia gazed at them with eyes that showed no 
wonder. She expected so many things of New 
York that each surprise seemed to have its own 
niche in her delighted sentiments. 

“You see,” said Raffles, “ Tillie goes out for 
a walk about noon time, then mother gets in some- 
times at two, and sometimes later. A feller al- 
ways has to wait for someone.” 

“Does Tillie take — a baby out?” ventured 
Dorothy. 

“Baby!” repeated the boy. “I’m the baby. 
She never takes me out,” at which assertion the 
two boys laughed merrily. 

“She just takes a complexion walk,” Ned 
helped out. 

Martha did not smile very sweetly when told 
to make two more places at the table, but she did 
not frown either. In a short time Ned, Raffle and 
Talent, with Tavia for company, and Dorothy 
assisting Martha, were left by Mrs. White to their 
own pleasure, while she excused herself and went 
off to write some notes. She remembered even 
then what Ned had said about boys liking to have 
things to themselves, and was not sorry of the 
excuse. 


Ii6 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


But Tavia held to her chair. She knew the 
strangers would say something interesting, and her 
“ bump ” of curiosity was not yet reduced. 

“ My big brother goes to the university/’ Raffle 
said. “ But he eats at the Grill. He never has 
to wait.” 

“ Your brother? ” repeated Tavia, as if that was 
the very remark she had been waiting for. 

“ Now Tavia,” cautioned Ned. 

“Now Ned,” said Tavia, in a tone of defiance. 

“I only wanted to say,” continued Ned, “that 
this big brother is probably studying law, and he 
may know a lot about — well, the number of per- 
sons in whom one person may be legitimately in- 
terested.” 

The small boys were too much absorbed in their 
meal to pay attention to such a technical discussion. 
Tavia only turned her eyes up, then rolled them 
down quickly, in a sort of scorn, for answer to 
Ned. 

“Now for your pudding,” announced Dorothy, 
who came from the kitchenette with three large 
dishes of the Brown Betty on a small tray. 

“ Um-m-m ! ” breathed the boys, drawing deep 
breaths so as to fully inhale the delicious aroma. 

“ What’s that? ” asked Ned, as the outside door 
bell rang vigorously. 

In reply Martha announced that the janitor 


HUMAN FREIGHT ON THE DUMMY 117 


wanted to know if anyone had tied a kite to the 
lobby rail. 

“The janitor !” exclaimed both small boys in 
one breath. Then, without further warning, they 
simultaneously ducked under the table. 


CHAPTER XIII 


THE SHOPPING TOUR 

“I GUESS I’ll wear my skating cap, the wind 
blows so on top of those ’buses,” remarked Tavia, 
as she and Dorothy prepared to go downtown to 
see the shops. It was their second day in New 
York. 

“And I’ll wear my fur cap,” Dorothy an- 
nounced, “ as that sticks on so well. It is windy to- 
day.” 

“Wasn’t it too funny about the little boys? I 
do believe if that janitor had caught them he would 
have punished them somehow. The idea of their 
kite dropping around the neck of the old gentle- 
man on the next floor! I should have given any- 
thing to see the fun,” and Tavia laughed at the 
thought. 

“The poor old gentleman,” Dorothy reflected. 
“ To think he was not safe taking the air on his 
own balcony. I was afraid that Ned would be 
blamed. Then our apartment would be marked as 
something dangerous. But Aunt Winnie fixed it 
all right. Janitors love small change.” 

118 


THE SHOPPING TOUR 


1 19 

“ Most people do,” Tavia agreed. “ I hope we 
find things cheap in New York. I do want so 
many odds and ends.” 

“ It will be quite an experience for us to go all 
alone,” Dorothy said. “ We will have to be care- 
ful not to — break any laws.” 

“ Or any bric-a-brac,” added Tavia. “ Some of 
those men we saw coming up looked to me like 
statues. I wonder anyone could enjoy life and be 
so stiff and statuesque.” 

“ We will see some strange things, I am sure,” 
Dorothy said. “ I’m ready. Wait. I guess I’ll 
take my handbag. We may want to carry some 
little things home.” 

“ And I’ll take your silk bag if you don’t mind,” 
Tavia spoke. “ I did not bring any along.” 

So, after accepting all sorts of warnings from 
Ned and Mrs. White, each declaring that young 
girls had to be very well behaved, and very care- 
ful in such a large city, the two companions started 
off for their first day’s shopping. 

Climbing up the little winding steps to the top 
of the Fifth Avenue ’bus Tavia dropped her muff. 
Of course a young fellow, with a fuzzy- wuzzy 
sort of a hat, caught it — on the hat. Tavia was 
plainly embarrassed, and Dorothy blushed. But 
it must be said that the young man with the velvet 
hat only looked at Tavia once and that was when 
he handed her muff up to her. 


120 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


On top of the ’bus, away from the crowd (for 
they were alone up there), Dorothy and Tavia 
gave in to the laughter that was stifling them. 
They knew something would happen and it had, 
promptly. 

“ Perhaps that is why they wear such broad- 
brimmed hats,” Dorothy remarked, “to catch 
things.” 

Soon an elderly woman puffed up the steps. 
She was so done up in furs she could not get her 
breath outside of them. Tavia and Dorothy took 
a double seat nearer the front, to allow the lady 
room near the steps. 

“ Oh, my! Thar’; you,” gasped the lady who 
had a little dog in .*er muff. “ It does do one up so 
to climb steps!” 

The country girls conversed in glances. They 
had read about dogs on strings, but had never 
heard of dogs in muffs. 

“ Lucky that muff did not drop,” Dorothy said, 
in a whisper. “ I fancy the little dog would not 
like it.” 

“ I wish it had,” Tavia confessed. “The idea 
of a woman, who fairly has to crawl, carrying a 
dog with her.” 

Once settled, the woman and the dog no longer 
interested our young friends. There were the boys 
on the street corners with their trays of violets; 
there were the wonderful mansions with so many 


THE SHOPPING TOUR 


121 


sets of curtains that one might wonder how day- 
light ever penetrated; there were the taxicabs 
floating along like a new species of big bird; then 
the private auto conveyances — with orchids in 
hanging glasses! No wonder that Dorothy and 
Tavia scarcely spoke a word as they rode along. 

There is only one New York. And perhaps 
the most interesting part of it is that which shows 
how real people live there. 

“I wonder who’s cooking there now,” mis- 
quoted Tavia, as she got a peek into an open door 
that seemed to lead to nowhere in particular. 

“ Can you imagine people living in such closed- 
in quarters? ” Dorothy remarked, “ I should think 
they would become — canned.” 

“ They don’t live there, — they only sleep there,” 
Tavia disclosed, with a show of pride. “ I do not 
believe a single person along here ever eats a meal 
in his or her house. They all go out to hotels.” 

“ But they can’t take the babies,” said Dorothy. 
“ I often wonder what becomes of the babies after 
dark, when the parks are not so attractive.” 

“ Do you really suppose that people do live in 
those vaults? ” musingly asked Tavia. u I should 
think they would smother.” 

“We can’t see the back yards,” Dorothy sug- 
gested. 

“ Perhaps New York is like ancient Rome — all 
walls and back yards.” 


122 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


“ But the fountains,” exclaimed Tavia, “ where 
are they? ” 

“ There are sunken gardens behind those walls, 
I imagine,” explained Dorothy, “ and they must be 
there.” 

For some moments neither spoke further. The 
’bus rattled along and as they neared Thirty-fourth 
street stops were made more frequently. 

“ We will get off at the next corner,” Dorothy 
told Tavia, “I know of one big store up here.” 

They climbed down the narrow, winding stairs 
and with a bound were in the midst of the Fifth 
Avenue shopping crowd. 

Dorothy shivered under her furs. “Where,” 
she asked, “ do all the flowers come from? No one 
in the country ever sees flowers in the winter, and 
here they are blooming like spring time.” 

“ Do you feel peculiar? ” demanded Tavia, stop- 
ping suddenly. 

“ Why, no,” answered Dorothy innocently; “do 
you? ” 

“I feel just as if I needed a — nosegay,” said 
Tavia, laughing slily. “ We’re not at all as dash- 
ing as we might be ! ” 

They purchased from a thinly-clad little boy 
two bunches of violets, sweetly scented, daintily 
tasseled — but made of silk ! 

“The silkiness accounts for the always fresh 


THE SHOPPING TOUR 


123 


and blooming violets,” Dorothy said ruefully. 
“ Now, we look just like real New Yorkers.” 

“ Now where is that store?” said Dorothy, 
looking about with a puzzled air. “ I’m sure it was 
right over there.” 

“Isn’t that a store,” said Tavia, “where all 
those autos and carriages are? ” 

“ Where? ” asked Dorothy, still bewildered. 

“ Where the brown-liveried man is helping ladies 
out of carriages and things,” Tavia answered. 

“Oh,” said Dorothy meekly, “I thought that 
was a hotel ! ” 

If there was anything in the world more sub- 
duedly rich, or more quietly lavish, than the shop 
that Dorothy and Tavia entered, the girls from the 
country could not imagine it. The richest and 
most costly of all things for which the feminine 
heart yearns, were displayed here. For the first 
few moments the girls did not talk. They were 
silent with the wonder of the costliness on every 
side. Then Tavia said timidly: “Nothing has 
a price mark on!” 

“ Hush ! ” whispered Dorothy, “ they don’t have 
vulgar prices here. They only sell to persons who 
never ask prices.” 

“Oh!” said Tavia, with quick understanding, 
“however, dare me to ask that wonderful creature 
with the coiffure, the price of those finger bowls,” 


124 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


murmured Tavia, a yearning entering her soul to 
possess a priceless article. 

“ What do you want with finger bowls? ” asked 
Dorothy, mystified. 

“How do I know? I may yet need a finger 
bowl,” enigmatically responded Tavia, “ maybe to 
plant a little fern in.” She handled the finger bowl 
tenderly. Dorothy, too, picked up a tiny brass 
horse, hammered in exquisite lines. “ Isn’t this 
lovely ! ” she exclaimed. 

“ It’s a wonderful piece of work,” admired 
Tavia, while she clung with intense yearning to the 
finger bowl. 

“ How much are these, please? ” Dorothy asked 
the saleswoman. 

The saleswoman carefully brushed back two 
stray locks that had escaped from their net, and 
gazing into space said: “Five dollars and Six 
dollars and ninety-seven cents.” Her attitude was 
slightly scornful at being asked the very common 
“ how much.” 

The scorn was too much for Tavia’s spirit. She 
lifted her chin: “I’ll take two of each kind, if 
you please, send them C. O. D.,” and, giving her 
Riverside Drive address, Tavia, followed by Doro- 
thy, turned and gracefully swayed from the counter, 
in grand imitation of an elegantly gowned young 
girl who had just purchased some brass, and had 
it charged. 


THE SHOPPING TOUR 


125 

“ Tavia, how awful ! ” gasped Dorothy. “ What- 
ever will you do with those things ! ” 

“ Send them back,” answered Tavia, with great 
recklessness, her chin still held high. 

Dorothy admitted that of course it wasn’t at all 
possible to back away from such a saleswoman, but 
she felt quite guilty about something. “ We 
shouldn’t have yielded to our feelings,” she said 
gently, “ it would, at best, have been only momen- 
tary humiliation.” 

“ We’re in the wrong store,” said Tavia, decid- 
edly, u I must see price signs that can be read a 
block away. This place is too exquisite ! ” 

“Isn’t this the dearest!” Dorothy darted to 
the handkerchief counter, and picked up a dainty 
bit of lace. 

Tavia gazed at the small lacy thing with rapt at- 
tention, cautiously trying to see some hidden mark 
to indicate the cost, but there was none. 

“ Something finer than this, please,” queried 
Tavia, of the saleswoman, “it’s exquisite, Doro- 
thy, but not just what I like, you see.” 

Dorothy kept a frightened pair of eyes down- 
cast, as the saleswoman handed Tavia another lace 
handkerchief saying, with a genial smile : “ Eigh- 
teen dollars.” Tavia held up the handkerchief 
critically: “ And this one? ” she asked, pointing to 
another. 


126 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 

“Twelve dollars,” replied the saleswoman, all 
attention. 

“We must hurry on,” interposed Dorothy, 
grasping Tavia’s arm in sheer desperation, “ there 
are so many other things, suppose we leave the 
handkerchiefs until last?” 

Critically Tavia fingered the costly bits of lace, 
as if unable to decide. Then she smiled artlessly 
at the saleswoman. “ It’s hard to say, of course, 
we’re so rushed for time, but we’ll look at them 
again.” Together the girls hurried for the street 
door. 

“That was really New York style; wasn’t it? ” 
triumphantly declared Tavia. “ Never again will 
I submit to superior airs when I want to know the 
price.” 

“ Hadn’t we better ask someone where stores 
are that sell goods with price marks on them?” 
laughingly asked Dorothy. 

They followed the crowd toward Broadway 
and Sixth Avenue. Gaily Tavia tripped along. She 
never had been happier in all her life. She loved 
the whirl and the people, and the never-ending air 
of gaiety. Dorothy liked it all, but it made her a 
bit weary; the festal air of the crowd did seem so 
meaningless. 

When they reached Sixth Avenue it took but an 
instant for both girls to pick out the most enticing 
shop and thither they hurried. It was brilliantly 


THE SHOPPING TOUR 


127 


lighted, the gorgeous splendor was Oriental in its 
beauty, there was no quiet hidden loveliness about 
this store, it dazzled and charmed and it had price 
signs! Just nice little white signs, with dull red 
figures, not at all “ screeching ” at customers, but 
most useful to persons of limited means. One could 
tell with the merest glance just what counter to 
keep away from. 

A struggling mass of humanity, mostly women, 
were packed in tightly about one counter. The 
girls could not get closer than five feet, but pa- 
tiently they stood waiting their turn to see what 
wonderful thing was on sale. It was Tavia’s first 
bargain rush, and for every elbow that was 
jammed into her ribs, she stepped on. someone’s 
foot Dorothy held her head high above the 
crowd to breathe. At last they reached the count- 
er, and the bargains that all were frantically aim- 
ing to reach were saucepans at ten cents each. 

“ After that struggle, we must get one, just for a 
memento of the bargain rush,” exclaimed Dorothy, 
crowding her muff under her arm. Something fell 
to the floor with a crash at the movement of Doro- 
thy’s arm. Immediately there was great confu- 
sion, because, a little woman, flushed and greatly 
excited had cried out, “ My purse ! I beg your par- 
don madam, that is my purse you have ! ” 

The small, excited woman was clinging desper- 


128 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


ately to the arm of another woman, who towered 
above the crowd. 

“Why, that’s Miss Mingle!” cried Tavia to 
Dorothy. 

“ Oh, Miss Mingle ! ” called out Dorothy. 

“Girls,” cried the little Glenwood teacher, ex- 
citedly, “ this woman snatched my purse ! ” 

They were all too excited at the moment to find 
anything strange in thus meeting with one another. 

The big woman calmly surveyed the girls: 
“ She, the blond one, knocked your purse down 
with her muff, I was goin’ to pick it up, that’s all. 
It’s under your feet now.” 

The woman slowly backed into the crowd. 

Dorothy’s eyes opened wide with wonder ! The 
thing that had fallen had certainly made a crash! 
and the leather end sticking from the cuff of the 
woman’s fur coat sleeve surely looked like a 
purse! Dorothy gasped at the horror of it! 
What could she do? The woman was moving 
slowly farther and farther away. 

Miss Mingle stooped to the floor in search of 
the purse. As quick as a flash the woman slipped 
out of the crowd, as Miss Mingle loosened her 
hold. Amazed and horrified at the boldness of 
the theft, Dorothy for one instant stood undecid- 
ed, then she sprang after the woman and faced 
her unflinchingly: 


THE SHOPPING TOUR 


129 


“ Give me that purse ! It’s in the cuff of your 
coat sleeve ! ” 

The woman drew herself up indignantly, glared 
at Dorothy, and would have made an effort to get 
away, scornfully ignoring the girl who barred her 
path, when a store detective arrived on the spot. 

She, too, was a girl, modestly garbed in black. 
In a perfectly quiet voice she spoke to the woman. 

“ These matters can always be settled at our 
office, madam. Come with me.” 

“ The idea ! ” screamed the woman. “ I never 
was insulted like this before! How dare you! ” 

“There is nothing to scream about,” said the 
young detective, in her soft voice, “I’ve merely 
asked you to come to the office and talk it over. 
Isn’t that fair? ” 

“ Indeed, I’ll submit to nothing of the sort! A 
hard-working, honest woman like I am!” She 
made another effort to elude her accusers by a 
quick movement, but Dorothy kept close to one 
side and the store detective followed at the other. 
The woman stared stubbornly at the detective. 
Disgusted with the performance, Dorothy quietly 
reached for the protruding purse and held it up. 

“ Is this yours? ” she asked, of Miss Mingle. 

“Yes, yes, my dear!” cried Miss Mingle, 
gratefully accepting the purse, “ I’m so thankful ! 
I caught her hand as she slipped the purse away 


130 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


from my arm. How can I thank you, Miss 
Dale?” 

Tavia led the way out of the crowd, and the 
store detective took charge of the woman, who 
was an old offender and well known. 

“ Dorothy Dale and Tavia Travers! ” joyfully 
exclaimed Miss Mingle, when the excitement was 
over. “ Where did you come from, and at such 
an opportune moment? ” 

“We are as surprised as you,” exclaimed Doro- 
thy, “ and so glad to have been able to be of as- 
sistance ! ” 

“ We’ll hang the saucepan in the main hall at 
Glenwood in honor of the bargain rush,” said 
Tavia, waving the parcel above her head. 

“ Girls, I’m still picking feathers out of my 
hair!” said Miss Mingle, laughing gaily. 

“ Don’t you love New York? ” burst from Tav- 
ia’s lips. “ I’m dreading the very thought of re- 
turning to Glenwood and school again ! ” 

But Miss Mingle sighed. “ I’m counting the 
days until my return to Glenwood, my dears. 
But, you don’t want to hear anything about that, 
you’re young and happy, and without care. Come 
and see us — I’m with my sister, and I would just 
love to have you.” At mention of her sister, Miss 
Mingle’s lips involuntarily quivered and she partly 
turned away. “ Do come, girls, this is my address. 


THE SHOPPING TOUR 


131 

I’m glad you’re enjoying New York; I wish I could 
say as much.” 

As she said good-bye, Dorothy noticed how 
much more than ever the thin, haggard face was 
drawn and lined with anxiety, and the timid dread 
in her eyes enhanced by the bright red spots that 
burned in the hollows of her cheeks. 

“We must call,” said Dorothy, when Miss 
Mingle had disappeared. “ There is some secret 
burden wearing that little woman to a shred.” 

“ Her eyes have the look of a haunted crea- 
ture,” said Tavia, seriously. “We can’t call to- 
morrow; we have the matinee, you know.” 

“Yes, that’s always the way, one must do the 
pleasant things, and let misery and sorrow take 
care of themselves,” sighed Dorothy. “Well, 
we can the following day.” 


CHAPTER XIV 


THE DRESS PARADE 

“ Oh dear,” sighed Dorothy, falling limply into 
a handsomely upholstered rocker in the comforta- 
ble resting-room of the shop, half an hour after 
they had left Miss Mingle, “I’m completely ex- 
hausted ! ” She carried several parcels, which she 
dropped listlessly on a nearby couch, on which 
Tavia was resting. 

“How mildly you express it!” cried Tavia, 
“ I’m just simply dead ! Don’t the crowds and 
the lights and confusion tire one, though ! I’ll 
own up, that for just one wee moment to-day, I 
thought of Dalton, and its peaceful quiet and the 
blue sky and — those things, you know,” she hast- 
ily ended, always afraid of being sentimental. 

“ I shouldn’t want to think that all my days 
were destined to be spent in New York. It makes 
a lovely holiday place, but I like the country,” said 
Dorothy, as she watched a young girl, shabbily 
dressed, eating some fruit from a bag. 

Tavia watched her too. “At least, the monot- 
132 


THE DRESS PARADE 


133 


ony of the country can always be overcome by 
simple pleasures, but here there is no escape to 
the peaceful — the temptations are too many. For 
instance,” Tavia jumped from her restful position, 
and sat before a writing table, and the shabby 
young girl who was eating an orange, stopped eat- 
ing to stare at the schoolgirl. “Who wouldn’t 
just write to one’s worst enemy, if there was no 
one else, just to use these darling little desks ! ” 

“And the paper is monogramed,” exclaimed 
Dorothy, regaining an interest in things. “ What 
stunning paper!” She, too, drew up a chair to 
the dainty mahogany table and grasping a pen 
said: “We simply must write to someone. This 
is too alluring to pass by.” 

“Here goes one to Ned Ebony,” and Tavia 
dipped the pen into the ink and wrote rapidly in 
a large scrawling hand. 

“Mine will be to — Aunt Winnie,” said Doro- 
thy, laughing. 

The shabby girl finished her orange, and pick- 
ing up a small bundle, took one lingering look at 
the happy young girls at the writing desks and left 
the resting room. 

“Aren’t we the frivolous things,” said Tavia, 
“ writing the most perfect nonsense to our friends 
merely because we found a dainty writing table!” 

“ With the most generous supply of writing 
paper!” said Dorothy. “But the couches and 


134 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


chairs in this room are too tempting to keep me at 
the writing desk.” Dorothy sealed her letter and 
again curled up in the spacious rocking chair. 

“And while we are resting, we can study art,” 
exclaimed Tavia, gazing at the oil paintings and 
tapestry that adorned the walls. 

A woman, with a grand assortment of large 
bundles and small children, tried to get them all 
into her arms at once, preparatory to leaving the 
resting room, but found it so difficult that she sat 
down once more and laughed good-naturedly, 
while the children scrambled about the place, 
loath to leave such comfortable quarters. Doro- 
thy watched with interest, and wondered how any 
woman could ever venture out with so many small 
children clinging to her for protection, to do a 
day’s shopping. Tavia was more interested in 
art at that moment. 

“Why go to the art museums?” she asked, 
“ we can do that part on our trip right here and 
now; we only lack catalogues.” 

“And we can do nicely without them,” said 
Dorothy, dragging her wandering attention back 
to Tavia. “ I can enjoy all these pictures without 
knowing who painted them. We can have just 
five minutes more in this palatial room, and then 
we simply must go on.” 

And five minutes after the hour, Dorothy per- 
suaded Tavia to leave the ideal spot, and, enter- 


THE DRESS PARADE 


135 

ing the elevator, they were whirled upward to 
the dress parade. 

Roped off from the velvet, carpeted sales floors, 
numerous statuesque girls paraded about, dressed 
in garments to charm the eye of all beholders — 
to lure the very short and stout person into pur- 
chasing a garment that looked divine on a willow* - / 
six-foot model; or, a wee bit of a lady into think- 
ing that’ she can no longer exist, unless robed lta 
a cloak of sable. But neither Dorothy nor Tavia 
cared much for the lure of the gorgeous garments, 
they were too awed at the moment to yearn for 
anything. A frail, ethereal creature, with a face 
of such delicacy and wistfulness, so dainty and 
graceful, with a little dimpled smile about her 
lips, passed the country girls and after that the 
girls could see nothing else in the room. They 
sat down and just watched her. A trailing robe 
of black velvet seemed almost to heavy for her 
slender white shoulders, and a large hat with 
snow white plume curling over the rim of the hat 
and encircling her bare throat, like a serpent, 
framed her flushed face. 

“ There,” breathed Tavia, “ is the prettiest face 
I’ve ever dreamed of seeing.” 

“ She’s more than pretty, she has a soul,” said 
Dorothy, reverently. “There is something so 
wistful about her smile and the tired droop of her 
shoulders. I feel that I could love her! ” 


136 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 

“ She has put on an ermine wrap over the vel- 
vet gown,” said Tavia. Shrinking behind Doro- 
thy she said impulsively: “ Dare we speak to her? 
It must be the most wonderful thing in the world 
to have a face like that! And to spend all her 
days just wearing beautiful gowns! ” 

“ She wears them so differently from the others 
here,” declared Dorothy. “ She’s strikingly cool, 
so far beyond her immediate surroundings.” 

“ I think she must be a princess,” said Tavia, 
in a solemn voice, “ no one else could look like 
that and stroll about with such an air! ” 

“ I think she is someone who has been wealthy 
and is now very poor,” said Dorothy, tenderly. 
“ How she must detest being stared at all day 
long! This work, no doubt, is all she is fitted for, 
having been reared to^do nothing but wear clothes 
charmingly.” 

“She’s changing her hat now,” said Tavia, 
watching the model as she was arrayed in a dif- 
ferent hat. “We might just walk past and smile. 
I shall always feel unsatisfied if we cannot hear 
her voice.” 

Together they timidly stepped near the wistful- 
eyed girl with the flushed face. 

“ You must grow so very tired,” said Dorothy, 
sympathetically. 

A cool stare was the only reply. 

“Hurry with the boa, you poky thing,” came 


THE DRESS PARADE 


137 


from the red, pouting lips of the wistful-eyed girl, 
ignoring Dorothy and Tavia as though they were 
part of the building’s masonry. “ I ain’t got all 
day to wait! Gotta show ten more hats before 
closing. Hurry up there, you girls, you make me 
mad! Now you hurry, or I’ll report you! ” and 
turning gracefully, she tilted her chin to just the 
right angle, the shrinking, wistful smile appeared 
on her lips, the tired droop slipped to her should- 
ers, all the air of charm covered her like a mantle, 
and again she started down the strip of carpet, 
leaving behind her two sadly disillusioned young 
girls. 

“ Let us go right straight home,” said Dorothy. 
“One never knows what to believe is real in this 
hub-bub place.” 

“We might have forgiven her anything,” said 
Tavia, “if she had been wistfully angry, or 
charmingly bossy; but to think that ethereal 
creature could turn into just a plain, everyday 
mortal! ” 

“ The flowers were mostly artificial, the bar- 
gain counters mere stopping places for pickpock- 
ets, and the most beautiful girl was rude ! ” cried 
Dorothy. 

“ We must be tired; all things can’t be wrong,” 
said Tavia, philosophically. 

“We’ll take a taxi home,” said Dorothy, 
“ Come on.” 


CHAPTER XV 


TEA IN A STABLE 

“Tavia!” exclaimed Dorothy, the next after- 
noon, as they prepared to go to a matinee, “ this 
address is Aunt Winnie’s apartment house — 
the one she invested so much money in.” She 
handed Tavia Miss Mingle’s card. 

“ How strange that the teacher should be Aunt 
Winnie’s tenant, and you never knew it,” cried 
Tavia, as she arranged a bunch of orchids, real 
hot-house orchids, that Ned had sent. 

“Won’t Aunt Winnie be surprised when she 
learns that our little Miss Mingle is one of her 
tenants?” Dorothy said. She was pinning on a 
huge bunch of roses. Ned had laughed at the 
girls’ tale of finding everything on the shopping 
tour to be false, and to prove that there were 
real things in New York City, had sent them these 
beautiful flowers to wear to the matinee. 

“ Indeed,” continued Dorothy, “ I’m mighty 
glad we met Miss Mingle. Aunt Winnie has had 
just about enough worry over that old apartment 
138 


TEA IN A STABLE 


139 


house! Miss Mingle, no doubt, will relieve that 
anxiety to some extent. I do so hope that every- 
thing will come out right. But come, dear, don’t 
look so grave, we must be gay for the show! ” 

Ned ran into the room. “Hurry, girls,” he 
said, bowing low, “the motor is at the door.” 

“The car!” screamed the girls in delight, 
“where did the car come from?” 

“ Oh, just the magic of New York,” said Ned, 
with a smile. 

“Not the Fire Bird?” asked Dorothy, hat pin 
suspended in mid-air. 

“ Oh, no, just a car. Maybe you girls like be- 
ing bumped along on top of the ’bus, but little 
Neddie likes to have his hand on the wheel him- 
self,” said Ned. 

“ Running a car in New York,” said Tavia, “ is 
not North Birchland, you know. Maybe we’ll 
get a worse bump in it than we ever dreamed of 
on top of the ’bus.” 

“ Oh, I know something about it,” said Ned 
confidently, “been downtown twice to-day in the 
thickest part of the traffic, and I’m back, as you’ll 
see, if you’ll stop fooling with those flowers long 
enough to look at me.” 

Tavia turned and looked lingeringly at Ned. 
“To-be-sure,” she drawled, “there’s Ned, Doro- 
thy.” 

“I’m really afraid, Ned,” said Dorothy, “the 


i 4 o DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


traffic is so awful, you know you aren’t accustomed 
to driving through such crowds.” 

“ If you stand there arguing all afternoon, there 
won’t be any trouble about getting through the 
crowd, of course,” gently reminded Ned. u It’s a 
limousine and a dandy ! Bigger than the Fire Bird 
and a beautiful yellow!” 

“ Yellow! ” cried Tavia in horror. “ With my 
complexion ! Couldn’t you engage a car to match 
my hair? ” 

“ And my feathers are green ! ” exclaimed Dor- 
othy. “ Just like a man, engage a car and never 
ask what shade we prefer! ” 

Tavia sat down in mock dismay. u Our after- 
noon is spoiled! No self-respecting person in this 
town ever rides in a car that doesn’t match ! ” 
u 0h, tommyrot,” said Ned in deep disgust, 
listening in all seriousness to the girls’ banter. 
“Who is going to look at us? Never heard of 
such foolishness ! ” And he dug his hands into his 
pockets, and walked gloomily about the room. 

“ Ned, dear, you’re a darling,” enthused Doro- 
thy, “ you don’t really believe we are so imbued 
with the spirit of New York as to demand that?” 

u Ned really has paid us the greatest compli- 
ment,” said Tavia, complacently, “he believed it 
was all true, and only geniuses can produce that 
effect.” 

Fifteen minutes later, after several near-colli- 


TEA IN A STABLE 


141 

sions, Ned drove the yellow car up to the entrance 
of the theatre, and while he was getting his check 
from the lobby usher, the girls tripped into the 
playhouse. 

They had box seats. With intense interest the 
girls watched the continuous throng pouring into 
their places. Few of the passing crowd, how- 
ever, returned the lavish interest that was centered 
on them from the first floor box; no one in the 
vast audience knew or cared that two country girls 
were having their first glimpse of a New York 
theatre audience. They saw nothing unusual in 
the eager, smiling young faces, and as Dorothy 
said to Tavia, only the striking, unique and fright- 
fully unusual would get more than a passing glance 
from those that journey through New York town. 

But Dorothy and Tavia did not look at the 
crowd long. It was something to be in a metro- 
politan theatre, witnessing one of the great suc- 
cesses of the season. 

Soon the curtain rolled up on the first act, a 
beautiful parlor scene, and Tavia gave a gasp. 

“Say, it beats when I went on the stage,” she 
whispered to Dorothy, referring to a time already 
related in detail in “ Dorothy Dale’s Great 
Secret.” 

“ Do you wish to go back? ” asked Dorothy. 

“ Never!” 


142 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


The play went on, and as it was something 
really worth while, the girls enjoyed it greatly. 

“ Isn’t he handsome? ” whispered Tavia, refer- 
ring to the leading man. 

“Look out, or you’ll fall in love with him,” 
returned Ned, with a grin. “He’s one of the 
girls’ matinee idols, you know.” 

Between the acts Ned slipped out for a few 
minutes. He returned with a box of bonbons and 
chocolates. 

“Oh, how nice!” murmured Dorothy and 
Tavia. 

Then came the great scene of the play, and the 
young folks were all but spellbound. When Vice 
was exposed and Virtue triumphed Dorothy felt 
like clapping her hands, and so did the others, and 
all applauded eagerly. 

There was a short, final act. Just before the 
curtain arose a step sounded in the box and to 
the girls’ astonishment there stood Cologne. 

“ I’ve been trying to attract your attention or 
ever so long,” she cried, after embracing and kiss- 
ing her friends enthusiastically. “ I’m spending 
the day with a chum. It’s such a joy to meet you 
like this ! ” 

“ And yesterday we met Miss Mingle,” laughed 
Dorothy. They drew their chairs up close, and 
told Cologne about the attempted theft. 

“ I’m so sorry for Miss Mingle,” Cologne said, 


TEA IN A STABLE 


143 


rather guardedly, “ it seems a pity that we never 
tried to know her better. She must have needed 
our sympathy and friendship so much.” 

“ All the time, she has been one of Aunt Win- 
nie’s tenants,” explained Dorothy. “ But of course 
I did not know that.” 

“ Then she must have told you about it,” said 
Cologne. 

“ We’ve heard nothing,” said Dorothy, “but 
we expect to call there to-morrow.” 

“ Then,” said Cologne discreetly, “ I can say 
no more.” 

Soon the last act was over, the orchestra struck 
up a popular tune, the applause was deafening, 
and the audience rose to leave the theatre. 

“It’s all over,” said Ned, and then he greeted 
Cologne and her friend, Helen Roycroft. 

“Didn’t you like it?” exclaimed Cologne’s 
friend, who was a New York girl. “The critics 
just rave over it! Everyone must see it before 
anything else ! But I’m hungry; aren’t you? ” she 
asked, including all three. 

Ned slipped back, but Tavia grasped his arm. 

“ There’s the most wonderful little tea-room 
just off Fifth Avenue,” said Helen Roycroft, with 
perfect self-possession and calm, “ and I should so 
love to have you enjoy a cup of tea with me.” 

Tavia murmured in Ned’s ear: “Of course 
you’re crazy for a cup of tea.” 


144 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 

Ned looked helplessly at Dorothy, and calcu- 
lated the money in his pockets. Four girls and all 
hungry! Helen Roycroft, meeting a new man, 
lost little time in impressing him with the wonder- 
ful importance of herself, and together she and 
Ned led the little party over Thirty-eighth street 
to Fifth Avenue, while good-natured Cologne, 
with Dorothy and Tavia, followed behind. 

The tea-room they entered, as Helen explained, 
was the most popular place in town for people of 
fashion, for artistic souls, and the moneyed, lei- 
sure class. 

“Everyone likes to come here,” continued 
Helen, in a manner that plainly suggested that she 
loved to show off her city, “ mostly because the 
place was once the stable of a member of the 
particular four hundred, and as this is as near as 
most of its patrons will ever come to the four 
hundred, they make it a rendezvous at this par- 
ticular hour every afternoon.” 

The “stable” still retained its original architec- 
ture, beamed ceiling and quaint stalls, painted a 
modest gray and white, in which were placed little 
tables to accommodate six persons, lighted with 
shaded candles. Cushioned benches were built to 
the sides of the stalls for seats; dainty waitresses, 
dressed also in demure gray and white, dispense^ 
tea, and crackers and salads. 

Hidden somewhere in the dim distance, musi- 


TEA IN A STABLE 


145 


dans played soft, low music and the whole effect 
was so charming that even Ned held his breath 
and looked around him in wonder. This tea-room 
was something akin to a woman’s club, where they 
could entertain their men friends with afternoon 
tea, in seclusion within the stalls. 

Helen Roycroft mentioned the name of a well- 
known actress and, trying hard to keep her en- 
thusiasm within bounds, pointed her out to the 
party. The actress was seated alone in a stall, 
dreaming apparently, over a cup of tea. The wait- 
ress stood expectantly waiting for the young people 
to select their stall. When Tavia saw the actress, 
with whose picture they were all very familiar, 
she pinched Dorothy hard. 

“ Surely we never can have such luck as to sit 
at the same tea table with her,” indicating the ma- 
tronly actress. 

“Should you like to?” asked the New York 
girl. 

And forthwith they were led to the stall. The 
matronly-looking woman languidly raised blue, 
heavy-lashed eyes to the gushing young girls who 
invaded her domain, then put one more lump of 
sugar in her tea and drank it, and Tavia breath- 
lessly watched! 

She was an actress of note, one of the finest in 
the world, and her pictures had always shown her 
as tall and slender and beautifully young! The 


146 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 

woman Tavia gazed at had the face of the maga- 
zine pictures, but she was decidedly matronly; 
there was neither romance nor tragedy written on 
the smooth lines of her brow. She was so like, 
and yet so unlike her pictures, that Tavia fell to 
studying wherein lay the difference. It was rude, 
perhaps, but the lady in question, understood the 
eager brown eyes turned on her, and she smiled. 

And that smile made everyone begin to talk. 

It was quite like a family party. Ned, as the 
only man present, came in for the lion’s share of 
attention and it pleased him much. Just a whim 
of the noted actress perhaps, made her join gaily 
in the tea-party, or mayhap, it was a privilege she 
rarely enjoyed, this love of genuine laughter, and 
bright, merry talk of the fresh young school girls. 
And it was a moment in the lives of the girls that 
was never forgotten. 

The voices in the tea-room scarcely rose above 
a murmur; the music played not a note above a 
dreamy, floating ripple; and the essence of the 
freshly-made tea pervaded the air. 

At times Tavia could see the actress of the mag- 
azines, and again she was just somebody’s mother, 
tired out and drinking tea, like every mother Tav- 
ia had ever met. But the most thrilling moment 
of all was when she said good-bye and asked the 
girls to call. And best of all, she meant it — Dor- 
othy knew that! There was no mistaking the sin- 


TEA IN A STABLE 


147 


cerity of the voice, the kindly light of her eyes, 
nor the simple words of the invitation to call. 

“ I must hurry now,” she had said, “ I’m due 
at the theatre in another hour; but I want to see 
you again. I want you to tell me more of your 
impressions of this great city. I’ve really enjoyed 
this cup of tea more than you know, my dears,” 
and she smiled at Tavia and Dorothy. 

Tavia and Dorothy had really talked so much 
that Helen Roycroft had little chance to display 
her fine knowledge of city life. Cologne was well 
content to sit and listen. 

When the actress was gone, Tavia said to 
Dorothy : “ Must we really go ? I could stay here 
drinking tea for a week.” 

“ I never want to see a cup of tea again,” de- 
clared Ned. “ And say,” he continued, “ next time 
I’m dragged into a ladies’ tea-room, I want an 
end seat! These stalls were never meant for fel- 
lows with knees where mine come ! ” And he pain- 
fully unwound himself from a cramped position. 

“ Ned does have so much trouble with those 
knees,” explained Dorothy. “ He never can have 
any but an end seat or box-seat at the theatre, be- 
cause there is no room for his knees elsewhere. 
Poor boy ! How uncomfortable will be your mem- 
ory of this tea-room! ” 

“ It will be the loveliest memory of my trip,” 


148 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


Tavia declared. “We found something real and 
true ! ” 

“ I’d give the whole world to be able to stay 
over,” said Cologne, plaintively. 

“ Just one more cup of tea ! ” cried Dorothy, 
M then we’ll start for home in the yellow car.” 

“ I’m glad it’s dark,” said Tavia, mischievously 
glancing at Ned, “ the color combination is such 
wretched taste ! ” 

“ I’m sorry, Cologne,” said Dorothy, “ that you 
can’t stay and come with to-morrow to call on Miss 
Mingle.” 

Ned was cranking up the car, and the girls for 
a moment were just a confused mass of muffs and 
feathers and kisses, then they jumped in, and 
drove home to the Riverside apartment. 



"my SISTER, MRS. BERGHAM, HAS BEEN QUITE ILL," EXPLAINED 

MISS MINGLE. 


Dorothy Dale in the City 


Page 151 




CHAPTER XVI 


A STARTLING DISCOVERY 

“How funny!’’ exclaimed Tavia, as she and 
Dorothy began to ascend the stairs in the deep, 
dark hallway of the apartment house that Aunt 
Winnie owned, and in which Miss Mingle and her 
sister lived. It was six stories high and had two 
apartments on each floor. A porter, with the un- 
concern of long habit, carelessly carried a rosy, 
cooing baby on his shoulder up the long flights of 
stairs, his destination being an apartment on the 
sixth floor. The mother of the child climbed up 
after him deep in thought, probably as to what 
to have for dinner that day. 

“ No, there are no elevators,” explained Doro- 
thy. “ This house is one of the early apartments, 
built before the people knew the necessity for such 
luxuries as elevators.” 

“ Luxuries! ” said Tavia, stopping to catch her 
breath, “ if elevators are luxuries in a six-story 
house, I’ll vote for luxuries ! ” 

“ Just one more flight,” said Dorothy, “ it’s the 
149 


150 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


fifth floor, the left apartment, I believe,” she con- 
sulted a card as they paused on a landing. 

“ I don’t wonder now at Miss Mingle looking 
haggard,” said Tavia, “ if she must face this climb 
every time she comes back. Imagine doing this 
several times a day! ” 

“ At least, one would get all the necessary exer- 
cising, and in wet, cold weather, could have both 
amusement and exercise, sliding down the banis- 
ters and climbing back,” Dorothy said, determined 
to see the bright side of it. 

Tavia slipped in a heap on a step and gasped: 
“Yes, indeed, I’ll admit there may be advantages 
in the way of exercise.” 

“Courage,” said Dorothy laughing, “we have 
only ten steps more ! ” 

While Dorothy resolutely dragged Tavia up 
the last ten steps, Miss Mingle appeared in the 
hall. 

“ I heard your cheerful laughter,” she said with 
a smile, “ and I said to sister, prepare the pillows 
for the girls to fall on, after their awful climb. 
But I didn’t say,” she added, playfully, “ feather 
pillows to fall on the girls! ” 

“ We really enjoyed the climb,” said Dorothy. 

“ It was lots of fun,” agreed Tavia. 

They entered a room which at first glance 
seemed a confused jumble of beautiful furniture, 
magazines, newspapers and books, grocer and 


A STARTLING DISCOVERY 


I5i 

butcher and gas bills, and a gentle-faced woman 
reclining languidly in an easy chair. Her smooth 
black hair fell gracefully over her ears; she had 
large gray eyes, whose sweet patience was the 
most marked characteristic of her face. 

“ My sister, Mrs. Bergham, has been quite ill,” 
explained Miss Mingle, as she rushed about try- 
ing to clear off two chairs for the girls to sit on. 
Every chair in the room seemed to be littered with 
what Dorothy thought was a unique collection of 
various sorts of jars, tea pots, and cups; and last 
week’s laundry seemed to cover the radiators and 
tables. The room, however, for all the confusion, 
was quaint and artistic, and had odd little corners 
fixed up here and there. 

“ I’m so ill and I’m afraid I’ve been quite selfish, 
demanding so much of sister’s time ! ” Mrs. Berg- 
ham said, extending a long white hand to the girls, 
and with her other removing a scarf from her 
shoulders, allowing it to drop to the floor. Miss 
Mingle immediately picked it up, folded it neatly, 
and laid it on the window seat. 

“I’ve had rather a sad Christmas,” she went 
on. “ Sister, it’s getting too warm in this room,” 
and, removing a pillow from under her head, she 
permitted that also to drop to the floor. Miss 
Mingle stooped and picked it up. 

“There, there, dear,” said the latter, “I can’t 
let you talk about it. The girls will tell you all 


152 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 

about their trip and you’ll forget the miserable 
aches and pains.” She puffed and patted the pil- 
lows on which her sister was resting. 

Mrs. Bergham smiled languidly. “ It’s so fine 
to be young and strong,” she said. “I have two 
small sons, and it made my Christmas so hard not 
to have them with me. But I couldn’t take care of 
them. They are such robust little fellows ! Sister 
decided, and I suppose she’s right — she always is 
— that it would be best for me not to have the care 
of them while I am so ill.” She sighed and smiled 
patiently at Miss Mingle. “ So we sent them away 
to school. I did so count on having them with me 
this holiday, but sister thought it would only be 
a worry ; didn’t you, dear ? ” 

Miss Mingle hesitated just the fraction of a 
second, then she answered cheerfully: “Mrs. 
Bergham is so nervous, and the boys are such live- 
ly little crickets, we didn’t have them home for 
Christmas.” 

“ Children are sometimes such perfect cares,” 
declared Tavia, feeling that something should be 
said. 

“ Then, too,” continued Mrs. Bergham, evident- 
ly greatly enjoying the opportunity to talk about 
herself to the helpless callers, “ I’ve tried hard to 
add a little to our income. I paint,” she arched 
her straight, black eyebrows slightly. “ Every- 
thing was going along so beautifully, although it 


A STARTLING DISCOVERY 


153 


is an expensive apartment to keep up, and I cared 
nothing for myself, I like to keep a home for my 
sister, and I worked and worked, and was so wor- 
ried. Don’t you like this apartment? I’ve grown 
very fond of it.” She talked in a rambling way, 
but her voice was pleasing and her manner quite 
tranquil, so that Dorothy wondered how she said 
so much with apparently little exertion. 

“ The night the telegram came,” said Miss Min- 
gle,” I thought she was dying, and I must say,” 
she laughed, “ that that alone saved you naughty 
girls from receiving some horrible punishment.” 
They all laughed at the remembrance of that last 
night at Glenwood. “But when I got here,” contin- 
ued Miss Mingle, “my sister was much better, and 
I was so relieved to find her just like her own dear 
self, when I had expected to find her — very ill — 
that I forgot everything, even having the boys 
home, so that sister’s fatherless sons had no Santa 
Claus this year.” 

Tavia was curious. The furnishings of the 
room were good, almost elaborate, but the care- 
lessness of it all at first hid the good points. Surely 
Mrs. Bergham did not keep it up on her painting. 
Tavia judged that, by the long, slender, almost 
helpless hand and the whole poise of the woman. 
And the two little boys at school! Could it be 
possible, she thought, that Miss Mingle supported 
the family? 


154 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


“ I’m sorry I am not well enough to arrange to 
have you meet some of my young friends,” said 
Mrs. Bergham. “ We entertain a little, sister and 
I. I know so many interesting young people. Bo- 
hemians, sister calls them! ” 

Miss Mingle was arranging the books on top 
of a bookcase and they fell with a clatter. If she 
made any answer, it was lost in the noise. 

At the name of “ Bohemians” Dorothy bright- 
ened. “I’ve never seen a real, live Bohemian!” 
she exclaimed, clasping her hands together with 
ecstasy. 

“ But we met an actress yesterday,” Tavia said, 
hesitatingly. 

Mrs. Bergham waved her hand in space. “ I 
mean real artists, people who have genius, who are 
doing wonderful things for the world! We count 
those among our friends,” she said. 

“ My ! ” thought Dorothy, “ did Miss Mingle 
belong to that society? Did she know the geniuses 
of the world, and yet had never mentioned it to 
the girls at school? ” But Miss Mingle had little 
to say. She finished arranging the books, and mov- 
ing swiftly, nervously about, she tried to bring 
some kind of order out of the confusion in the 
room. 

“ Do sit down, sister, this can all wait. I’m sure 
the girls don’t mind if we are not in perfect 
order.” said Mrs. Bergham. 


A STARTLING DISCOVERY 


155 


Dorothy and Tavia, in one breath, assured the 
ladies that they didn’t mind a bit, and Tavia even 
added, with the intention of making Miss Mingle 
feel at ease, that it was “more home-like.” 

“ I never could sit up perfectly straight nor stay 
comfortably near anything that was just where it 
should be,” explained Mrs. Bergham. “ My hus- 
band loved that streak of disorder that was part 
of my nature, but sister was always the most pre- 
cise and careful little creature.” She looked at 
Miss Mingle with limpid, loving eyes. “ Sister 
was always the greatest girl for taking all the re- 
sponsibility, she was so hopelessly in love with 
work in her girlhood! What a lovely time our 
girlhood was! Isn’t it time for my broth? ” she 
asked, as she glanced at a small watch on her 
wrist. 

“ Forgive me, dear,” said Miss Mingle, “ I for- 
got. I’ll prepare it immediately,” and she dropped 
what she was doing and hurried to the kitchen. 

Mrs. Bergham arose and walked to the window 
seat, resting her elbows on some pillows. She 
wore a light blue dressing gown, made on simple 
lines, but so perfectly pretty that Dorothy and 
Tavia decided at once to make one like it imme- 
diately, on reaching home. The light blue shade 
brought out the clear blue-grey of her eyes, and 
her heavy dark lashes shaded the soft, white skin. 
She sighed, and asked the girls to sit with her in 


156 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


the window seat. In her presence Tavia felt very 
awkward, young and inexperienced, and she sat 
rather rigidly. Dorothy was more at ease and, 
too, more critical of their hostess. She listened 
to the quick, nervous steps of Miss Mingle as she 
hurried about the kitchen, preparing nourishment 
for her languid sister. 

“ There isn’t much view from this window,” 
said Tavia bluntly, more because she felt ill at 
ease than because she had expected to see some- 
thing besides the tall, brown buildings across the 
street. The buildings were high, no sky could 
be seen from the window, and the sun did not 
seem to penetrate the long line of stone buildings 
across the way. 

“ Oh, there are disadvantages here, I know, but 
I’m so fond of just this one room. The house is 
in that part of the city most convenient to every- 
thing — that is, everything worth while, of course. 
So, sister decided it was best to stay here. How- 
ever, the rent is enormous. It was that mostly 
which caused my breakdown. In six months time 
our rent has been doubled by the landlord. I got 
ill thinking about it, and I just had to send for 
sister. Sister’s salary isn’t so large, and the con- 
stant increase in our rent is a burden too great to 
bear.” 

“ I’d move,” said Tavia, promptly. 

“ But where would we find another place that 


A STARTLING DISCOVERY 


157 


meets all the requirements as this place does? If 
sister were always with me, we might come across 
something suitable some time, but alone, I am of 
little use in a business manner. Sister is so clever! 
She can do everything so much better than I. My 
illness is keeping me at home at present, and as my 
sister will return to school directly, there is really 
no time to look about for other quarters.” The 
sufferer said this quite decidedly. 

“ Who raises the rents ? ” Dorothy tried to ask 
the question naturally, but a lump seized her 
throat, and she felt the blood rushing to her 
cheeks. 

“ Oh, some agent. Several dozens of persons 
have bought and sold this house, according to Mr. 
Akerson, since we moved in.” The subject was evi- 
dently beginning to bore Mrs. Bergham, for she 
yawned. “ What pretty hair you have, Miss 
Dale,” she exclaimed, “so much like the gold the 
poets sing about.” 

Dorothy brushed back the tiny locks that per- 
sisted in hanging about her ears, and she smiled 
shyly. 

“ Can’t you refuse to pay the increases in the 
rent?” asked Dorothy. 

“ Oh, these is always some good reason for the 
increases,” answered Mrs. Bergham. “ Some new 
improvements, or some big expense attached to 
maintaining a studio apartment, in fact, according 


158 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


to Mr. Akerson, the reasons for raising our rent 
are endless.” 

Dorothy’s eyes met Tavia’s in a quick flash, as 
she noted the name of the agent. 

Then Miss Mingle came into the room with a 
neatly-arranged tray for her sister. Mrs. Berg- 
ham thanked her and waited patiently while little 
Miss Mingle drew up a table to the window seat 
and placed the things on it. 

Mrs. Bergham held up a napkin. “ I don’t want 
to trouble, dear, but really I’ve used this napkin 
several times. Just hand me any kind; I know 
things haven’t been ironed or cared for as they 
should be, but I don’t mind. There, that one is 
all right. I’m an awful care; am I not? ” 

Miss Mingle squeezed her hand. “ Just get 
well and be your old, happy self again, that’s all 
I ask.” She turned to the girls. “ My sister and 
her boys are all I have in the world to work and 
live for,” she finished. 

“ I’m really so sorry, sister, that you did not 
speak about the girls spending their holiday in 
town. We could have a nice little dinner before 
you all return to Glenwood,” suggested Mrs. Berg- 
ham. 

“ Don’t think of it,” said Dorothy, shocked at 
the idea of little Miss Mingle being burdened with 
the additional care of trying to give a dinner for 
Tavia and herself. Indeed, it would have been 


A STARTLING DISCOVERY 


159 


more to Dorothy’s mind to have taken Miss 
Mingle with her, and have her sit in Aunt 
Winnie’s luxurious apartment, and be waited on 
for just one day, as the little teacher was waiting 
on her languid sister. 

Tavia, too, thought, since the idea of increasing 
any of Miss Mingle’s responsibilities was apt to 
be brought up, it was the right moment to depart. 

Dorothy held Miss Mingle’s hand as they were 
leaving and said: “ Mrs. Bergham told us of your 
difficulty about the rent. I’m so sorry.” 

“ We are absolutely helpless,” said Miss 
Mingle. “We are paying three times what the 
apartment was originally rented for and there is 
no logical reason why it should be so. The agent 
says it’s the landlord’s commands, and if we don’t 
like it we can move. It seems that this particular 
landlord is money mad! ” 

“ Oh,” cried Dorothy, “ something must be 
done ! ” 

“ The only thing that I can think of,” said Mrs. 
Bergham, wiping two tears from her eyes,” is to 
forget the whole tiresome business. It was horrid 
of me to say anything at all, but it’s so much on 
our minds that I cannot help talking about it.” 

“ I’m very glad indeed,” said Dorothy, “ that 
you did.” 

“ We were not bored by that story,” Tavia said, 
“ and we surely are very pleased to have had this 


160 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


pleasure of becoming acquainted with Miss 
Mingle’s sister.” 

In another moment the girls began the weary 
climb down the four flights of stairs. 

Reaching the street Dorothy started off at a 
mad pace. 

“ I’m so thoroughly provoked,” she said to 
Tavia, who was a yard behind, “ that I must walk 
quickly or I’ll explode.” 

“ Well, I’m disgwsted too, Dorothy, but I’ll take 
a chance on exploding, I’m not used to six-day 
walking races, howeveivmuch you may be. And 
incidentally, I must say I should have liked very 
much to have shaken a certain person until all the 
languidness was shaken out of her bones! ” 

“ Shaken her! ” cried Dorothy, “ I should have 
liked to spank her! ” 

“ If that is an artistic temperament,” said Tavia, 
“ I never wish to meet another. Of all the lack- 
adaisical clinging vines ; of all the sentimental, self- 
ish people that ever existed ! ” 

“To think of that poor little woman teaching 
school, and going without ordinary comforts, to 
help support her sister in ease and relieve her of 
the responsibility of bringing up her two child- 
ren! ” Dorothy had slackened her pace and the 
girls walked together, although still swinging 
along rapidly. 

“A person without a temperament would have 


A STARTLING DISCOVERY 


161 


moved instantly, but that creature stayed on and 
on, paying every increase, getting the extra money 
of course from Miss Mingle, just because she was 
so fond of that one room!” Tavia mimicked 
Mrs. Bergham’s voice and manner. 

“ Too languid to look for another,” said Doro- 
thy, her eyes aglow with indignation. “ But, 
Tavia, there is one thing certain. Dear Aunt 
Winnie shall now know where the leak in her in- 
come is,” said Dorothy. 

Tavia did not reply, because a sudden idea had 
leaped to her brain. She listened quietly while 
Dorothy talked about Aunt Winnie’s business af- 
fairs, her brain awhirl with the excitement of this 
thing that had suddenly come to her; come as a 
means of repaying Dorothy and Aunt Winnie for 
all their loving kindness to her. To keep the idea 
tucked away in the innermost regions of her mind, 
she bit her tongue, so afraid was she that once 
her lips opened the idea would burst forth. So 
Dorothy talked on and on and Tavia only listened. 


CHAPTER XVII 


tavia' s resolve 

Tavia was preoccupied at breakfast. Ned 
slily guessed that she was yearning for a certain 
someone left behind in Dalton, but Tavia just 
smiled, and insisted that she was paying strict at- 
tention to other matters. 

“Then why,” demanded Ned, “have you 
poured maple syrup into your coffee?” 

“ I didn’t! ” declared Tavia, but there was little 
use denying it when she carefully stirred her cup. 

Dorothy shook her forefinger at Tavia. “ This 
morning you had your ribbons in your hair, and 
yet you asked me to find them for you; and then 
you said you were a ‘ stupid ’ when I located them 
for you — on top of your head.” 

“ But I still deny that I am preoccupied, or 
dreaming,” declared Tavia. “In fact, I’m too 
wideawake. It hurts to be as fully awake as I 
am ! ” 

“ Look out! ” warned Ned, “ there, you almost 
put sugar in your egg cup ! ” 

162 


TAVIA’S RESOLVE 


163 


“Please stop noticing me,” said poor Tavia, 
chagrined at last into pleading with her teasers. 
“Suppose I admit that I am deeply absorbed?” 

“ Don’t do anything of the sort,” said Aunt 
Winnie, “ just put all the maple syrup in your 
coffee that you wish; you may like coffee that 
w r ay, if Ned does not.” 

It w r as noticeable to all that Tavia’s attention 
was not given to her immediate surroundings, and 
while the others were still at breakfast, the girl 
stole noiselessly to her room, dressed for the 
street, and quietly opened the door leading into 
their private hall. She listened, and caught the 
sound of merry voices from the breakfast room. 
She tiptoed down the hall, opened the outer door, 
and reached the elevator in safety. She rang, 
and it seemed almost an hour before the car came 
up. Elevators are such slow things when one is on 
an errand that must be done in haste! 

Tavia watched Mrs. White’s door, afraid every 
moment that Dorothy or Aunt Winnie would pop 
out. But the elevator did finally arrive, and bidding 
the boy “good morning” Tavia at last felt safe. 
T o what thev would say when they discovered that 
she had gone out alone through the streets of New 
York city, Tavia gave only a momentary thought. 
It could all he explained so nicely when she re- 
turned. 

She hastened to a corner drug-store, asked per- 


i 64 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 

mission to use the pay telephone, and entered the 
booth. Not until then did Tavia know fear! 
How to telephone, what to say — she couldn’t 
think connectedly. After finding the number, she 
took off the receiver with more confidence than 
she really felt. Her heart beat so fast that she 
thought the girl at the central office would ask 
what that thumping noise was on the wire ! 

“ Hello ! ” she called, timidly. 

A boy’s voice at the other end of the line 
answered. 

“ I would like to speak with Mr. Akerson, if 
you please,” said Tavia, and felt braver now that 
she had really started on her adventure. 

“Is this Mr. Akerson? No?” Someone had 
answered, but evidently it was not the right man. 

After a long wait another voice floated into 
Tavia’s ear — a woman’s voice. Tavia said, be- 
coming impatient: “I simply want to talk with 
Mr. Akerson. It that impossible?” 

She was assured by the voice at the other end 
that it was not, but Mr. Akerson was always busy, 
and must have the name of the party. This was 
not what Tavia had expected, and for a moment 
she was confused and felt like hanging up the 
receiver and running away. 

“Well?” asked the young lady. 

“Tell him — oh, just tell him, a young lady; he 
doesn’t know me.” 


T AVIA’S RESOLVE 165 

“ I must have your name, or I cannot call him 
to the ’phone.” 

“How aggravating!” exclaimed Tavia to the 
empty air, “ I didn’t expect I would have to pub- 
lish my name broadcast.” Then she spoke into 
the receiver: 

“ I want to see Mr. Akerson on very special, 
important business that only concerns myself; 
kindly tell him that, please,” she said, with great 
dignity. 

Not a sound came from the other end and Tavia 
began to wonder whether this would end her mis- 
sion, when a loud, hearty voice yelled right in 
her ear: 

“ Hello-o-o!” 

It only startled Tavia. At that moment she 
couldn’t have remembered her own name. 

“ Hello-o ! ” called the impatient voice again. 

“ Might I have an interview with you this morn- 
ing? ” Tavia at last managed to gasp. 

“Who is this?” asked the voice in a more 
gentle tone. 

“ I’m a young lady who wants a private inter- 
view with you,” she answered, trying to be very 
impressive. 

“Why certainly,” said the man’s voice. “When 
do you wish to see me?” Tavia caught a hint of 
amusement in the tone, so she answered quickly, 
trying to throw into her accent the commanding 


1 66 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


tones of grown-up women: “I must see you im- 
mediately, and just as soon as I can get down to 
your office. ” 

‘‘Very well,” said the voice, “but won’t you 
tell me your name? ” 

“Not now,” answered Tavia, still maintaining 
great dignity of voice, “ and please, will you tell 
me just how to reach your office — and — and, oh, 
all about getting there. You see, I really don’t 
know where Nassau street is.” 

The man laughed, and Tavia quickly jotted 
down the directions and left the telephone a bit 
perplexed. How amused the man had been ! Per- 
haps it wasn’t customary for young girls to make 
appointments thus. Tavia quailed, she did so 
detest doing anything that a born and bred New 
York girl would not do. 

The mere matter of taking a surface car and 
reaching lower Broadway was a bit nerve-racking, 
but simple in the extreme. Tavia felt that, for a 
country girl, she could travel through the city like 
a veteran. Mr. Akerson had specifically told her 
not to take the subway, as it might be puzzling, 
but, finding the office building was not as simple as 
finding the proper car to get there had been. 
There were numerous large buildings on the block, 
and such crowds of heedless men rushing passed 
her ! There were as many people in the middle of 
the street as there were on the walks. Everyone 


TAVIA’S RESOLVE 167 

was in a tremendous hurry, and could not wait for 
his neighbor. 

Lower New York presented to Tavia the most 
bewildering, impossible place she had ever imag- 
ined! In the shopping districts, New York is en- 
chanting, but this section, with its forbidding-look- 
ing, sunless, narrow streets, and the wind blowing 
constantly, piercing and sharp, made Tavia shiver 
under her furs. Each building seemed equipped 
with whirling doors that were perpetually in mo- 
tion, and to enter one of these doors caused Tavia 
to shrink back and wish heartily that Dorothy or 
Ned was with her. 

She stood waiting an opportune moment to slip 
into the rapidly-swinging doors, and should have 
turned away in despair of ever entering, when a 
young man stopped, and holding the circular por- 
tal still, with one strong arm, he bowed to Tavia 
to pass through. She plunged into the compart- 
ment and was whirled into a white marble hall 
directly in front of a row of elevators. Again she 
read the address of Mr. Akerson. “ Room 1409.” 
Entering an elevator she wondered in a misty, 
dizzy way how one knew where to get off to find 
room Number 1409. 

“Eighteenth floor!” yelled the elevator opera- 
tor, looking askance at Tavia. Then before Tavia 
could think, he called, “Going down!” and the 
elevator filled up for the downward trip. Tavia 


1 68 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


gasped. How stupid she had been! How she 
wished Dorothy was with her! Then she left the 
elevator on the ground floor and pulling together 
all her courage, she asked an important looking 
man in uniform, how she could reach Room 1409. 

“ Fourteenth floor, to your right,” explained 
the man, taking the bewildered Tavia by the arm 
and putting her on an elevator. 

“ So that’s the system,” thought Tavia, and she 
could have laughed aloud. And marveling at the 
perfect simplicity of so many things that at first 
glance seemed complicated, Tavia found herself 
at the fourteen floor. 

“ Room Fourteen Hundred and Nine to your 
right,” said the elevator boy, without Tavia hav- 
ing asked him anything about it. 

“ To your right,” sounded simple, but as Tavia 
surveyed the various halls, running in numerous 
directions, she grew weary of her first business 
trip and so tired that she almost lost sight of the 
reason for the journey. Under the guidance of a 
flippant young person, Tavia finally located “to 
the right.” 

She opened the door and entered. She fairly 
rushed into the office because she felt that Mr. 
Akerson must be tired waiting for her arrival. A 
small boy sat at a telephone switchboard. 

“Who d’yer wanta see?” asked the boy, with 
utter indifference. 


T AVIA’S RESOLVE 


169 

“ Mr. Akerson,” said Tavia. 

The boy telephoned to somewhere, and presently 
a young girl appeared, and without a word, con- 
ducted Tavia through a long suite of offices, with 
crowds of clerks, desks and bookcases in every 
conceivable corner. The young miss poked her 
head into a door and called out: 

“ Mr. A.” 

“ A’s not in,” called back another young voice. 
“ Back in half an hour.” 

Tavia sat down and looked about her. So this 
was the way business men kept important appoint- 
ments! Back in half an hour! It seemed ages 
since Tavia left Mrs. White’s breakfast room, but 
the ticking clock on the wall announced that it was 
just ten-thirty. She must return for lunch, or the 
family would be frightened. She quietly looked 
about her, and in one quick glance decided that 
after all, the various eyes that were looking her 
way, might be kindly eyes, and with a great deal 
of courage, for it really takes courage to face a 
long line of clerks in a business office, Tavia 
smiled at the entire force. Soon she became in- 
terested in the clicking typewriting machines, and 
the adding apparatus, and forgot all about herself, 
which seemed the best thing in the world to do. 
The most comfortable and happy people of all 
are those who can become so interested in others 
that they forget themselves. 


CHAPTER XVIII 


DANGEROUS GROUND 

“ Miss ,” began a man with a ruddy face 

and heavy gray hair, as he stood in front of Tavia, 
almost an hour later, while a small boy relieved 
him of his great fur coat and cane. “ I don’t be- 
lieve I have your name. I’m Mr. Akerson.” 

“ I’m Octavia Travers,” answered Tavia, look- 
ing straight into the brown eyes of Mr. Akerson. 

“Oh, yes, you are the lady who ’phoned me? 
Want to see me about something very important; 
don’t you?” he asked, looking at Tavia’s fresh 
young face with open admiration. Instinctively 
Tavia did not like Mr. Akerson. His brown eyes 
were large and bold, and his manners too free and 
easy. As she gazed straight at him she wondered 
how she, alone, could deal with such a man. But 
she followed him, nevertheless, into an office 
marked “Private ” and the door closed behind 
them. 

“Wonderful weather; is it not?” he asked, 
pleasantly. “ Such bracing air as this makes us 
old fellows young,” he rubbed his large hands 
170 


DANGEROUS GROUND 


171 

together as he talked. “ I suppose you’ve been 
skating in the Park, and enjoying the Winter pleas- 
ures, as girls do ! ” 

“No, indeed,” answered Tavia sedately, “we 
haven’t been skating yet, but we’re going to the 
Park to-morrow.” Then she could have bitten 
off her tongue for saying anything so foolish — for 
telling this stranger anything about her engage- 
ments. 

The man did not seem in a hurry to find out her 
business. She drew herself up and raising her 
chin, which was always a sign that Tavia was be- 
coming determined, she said: 

“ I wish to inquire about one of your apart- 
ments.” 

“ I understood you to say that it was special 
business with me,” he laughed, and looked keenly 
at Tavia. “You could have asked any of the 
clerks about that.” 

“ I thought that I would have to see you per- 
sonally, of course.” 

“ Oh, no, that was not necessary. My clerks 
are conversant with the renting of all our places.” 

Tavia was puzzled. She would not talk to the 
clerks, she wanted to find out from Mr. Akerson 
himself. She smiled sweetly. 

“ I was told,” she said, “ that in regard to this 
particular apartment, the Court Apartments, that 
I could only rent from you.” 


172 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 

The man glanced up quickly, and closing his 
eyes shrewdly, asked Tavia, lowering his voice: 

“ Who sent you to me ? ” 

“ A friend of mine lives there and she mentioned 
your name as being renting agent, and not the 
company you represent.” 

Mr. Akerson sat back, evidently very much re- 
lieved. He toyed with a letter opener. 

“No,” he said slowly, “the Court Apartments 
do not belong to the company, and the clerks could 
not have given you the information about renting. 
We do not carry that place on the lists.” 

For one wild moment Tavia wanted to laugh. 
This shrewd man, of whom she had felt so much 
in awe, was calmly telling her just what she wanted 
to know ! 

“ I wish,” said Tavia, “ to see about renting an 
apartment there.” 

“An apartment just for yourself?” he asked, 
and he looked so queerly at Tavia that she hesi- 
tated. 

“No,” hastily corrected Tavia, “that is, not 
alone. I expect to have — someone with me.” 
Which, as Tavia said to herself, was perfectly 
true, though she hesitated over it. 

“ Lucky young chap ! ” murmured the man, and 
Tavia flushed hotly. 

“ The rent, please,” demanded Tavia, trying to 
show the man how much he displeased her. 


DANGEROUS GROUND 


173 


“ What can you afford to pay?” he asked. “The 
rents differ. But, I have no doubt, I could give 
you an apartment on very reasonable terms.” 

“ I couldn’t afford to pay over fifty dollars per 
month,” answered Tavia smoothly, which was the 
price at which the apartments were supposed to be 
rented. 

“ I’m willing to shave off a bit,” said Mr. Aker- 
son, very generously. “ Some of my tenants there 
are paying one hundred dollars for the same 
rooms that I’ll let you have for eighty dollars per 
month.” 

“ Eighty dollars! ” exclaimed Tavia, “ I under- 
stood that the rents were only forty and fifty dol- 
lars!” 

“ My dear young lady,” said the man sooth- 
ingly, “ in that section ! And such beautifully ar- 
ranged rooms! I ask eighty and one hundred 
dollars for those apartments, and I get it. But, 
as I said, if there are any particular rooms that 
you fancy,” the man smiled familiarly at Tavia, 
“ maybe I could come to terms with you.” 

“ I’m sure I am right about the rents being 
forty and fifty dollars,” Tavia insisted. 

“Oh, they were that a long time ago; in fact, 
the last time the apartment changed hands they 
could be rented for thirty-five dollars. But I built 
the place up, improved it, made it worth the price,, 


174 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


and I can get that amount. Only, if you’ve set 
your little heart ” 

Tavia jumped up. The man had leaned so far 
over toward her, that she resented the familiarity 
implied. She drew herself up to her full height 
and said coldly: 

“ I do not care to pay more than the regular 
renting price for the Court Apartments. If you 
will lease an apartment at fifty dollars, you shall 
hear from me again.” 

“Done!” said the man, “but I can’t promise 
that the rent will go on indefinitely at that figure. 
You can have it at that rental for three months, 
but understand, the woman across the hall from 
you and the family above, are paying one hundred 
dollars per month.” 

“I’m sure you’re very kind,” said Tavia, ar- 
ranging her fur neck piece, and pulling on her 
gloves, “ I appreciate it very much.” 

“ Don’t mention it,” said Mr. Akerson, grandly 
expanding his broad chest, “ I always aim to give 
a lady whatever she wants,” and he came nearer 
to Tavia. 

With cool dignity she backed slowly to the door, 
ignoring Mr. Akerson’s outstretched hand. 

A quick flush mounted the man’s brow, and he 
bowed Tavia out of his private office. 

Once again in the open, she breathed freely. 

“ What a perfectly horrid man,” she murmured. 


DANGEROUS GROUND 


i75 


“To think that Mrs. White receives but thirty-five 
dollars from each apartment and he actually gets 
eighty and one hundred dollars! Poor Miss 
Mingle ! It must take every penny she earns just 
to pay the rent! And it takes all Aunt Winnie re- 
ceives to pay the expenses and taxes of the place! 
And with the difference Mr. Akerson buys fur 
coats and things.” Tavia’s indignation knew no 
bounds. 

On the trip home she thought quickly and 
clearly. 

Arriving there, she was met by an excited fam- 
ily. 

“Wherever have you been?” cried Dorothy. 

“My dear,” gasped Aunt Winnie, “you’ve 
given us an awful fright! ” 

“ I was just down to start out on a trip through 
the hospitals and police stations,” said Ned. 

“ And I’ve now spoiled the beautiful trip,” said 
Tavia, with a laugh. “ It’s just delightful to stay 
away long enough to be missed.” 

“ Yes, I know it is,” said Dorothy. “ But where 
have you been? ” 

“ Out,” was Tavia’s laconic answer. 

“ Really! ” said Ned, with broad sarcasm. 

Aunt Winnie smiled. “ Don’t tell them your 
secret, Tavia; they only want to find out so that 
they can tease you about it.” 

“Anyone who insists on hearing my secret,” 


176 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 

said Tavia, striking a tragic pose, “ does so at his 
peril ! ” 

Ned decided that it was worth the risk, and 
rushed at Tavia to wrench the secret bare, but she 
eluded him skillfully, leaping directly over a couch. 
Ned was close at her heels, and out into the hall 
she ran, shutting the door after her, keeping Ned 
on the other side. In a moment it was opened. 
Desperate, Tavia sprang to the entrance into the 
main hall, and Ned followed so closely that they 
reached the divan in the hall at the same moment, 
Tavia sinking exhausted into its depths. She had 
won, because Ned could do nothing now except 
stand gallantly by — he could not smother Tavia in 
pillows in the public hall, and still maintain his 
dignity — so Tavia’s secret remained her own. 

Dorothy appeared in the doorway. 

“ Such perfectly foolish young people ! ” she 
scolded. “ Come inside this instant! It’s a good 
thing that father will arrive to-night, to balance 
this frivolous family! ” 

Tavia sat up astonished. “ Major Dale coming 
to-night? I’m so glad. And Nat and Joe and 
Roger ! Won’t that be fine for the skating party ?” 

Dorothy, too, sank into the comfortable divan. 

“ Father’s rheumatism is all well again, and they 
will arrive in time for dinner to-night,” she said. 
“ The telegram came directly after breakfast.” 

“ Dorothy told me about your visit to Miss 


DANGEROUS GROUND 


177 


Mingle in the apartment house,” said Ned, sud- 
denly becoming serious. But Tavia did not want 
to discuss apartment houses just then, and she 
jumped lightly to her feet, just as Aunt Winnie 
opened the door. 

“There’s someone on the ’phone asking for 
Miss Travers! ” she said. 

.Certainly mysterious things were happening 
to Tavia that day, thought Dorothy, as she and 
Ned stood, frankly curious, while Tavia clung to 
the receiver. 

“ Hello ! ” she said, in a trembling voice. 

“Yes, this is Miss Travers! ” 

“ No, I do not know your voice.” 

“ Really, I never heard your voice before! ” 

“ Yes, this is Mrs. White’s apartment.” 

“I’m from Dalton, yes, and my name is Trav- 
ers, but I don’t know you.” 

“Ned? He’s here. You want to speak to 
him?” 

She stepped from the telephone and handed the 
receiver to Ned : “ It’s a man’s voice and he kept 
laughing, but I’m sure I never met him, and he 
finally asked for you,” she explained. 

“ How are you, old chum ?” sang out Ned, heart- 
ily. “Yes, certainly, come right upstairs. Get off 
at the third floor. The girls will be wild with 


178 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


“ Who is it? ” demanded Dorothy and Tavia, in 
one voice. 

“He’ll be in the room in a minute,” answered 
Ned, mysteriously. 


CHAPTER XIX 


THICK ICE AND THIN 

The owner of the voice on the telephone had 
appeared in less than a minute in the person of 
Bob, and before greetings were over the Major, 
with Nat, Roger and Joe, appeared, and there 
was a grand reunion. 

When the boys took Bob off to see New York, 
the girls retired. 

“ Does it really seem possible that a few days ago 
we were country school girls?” mused Dorothy, 
as she and Tavia lay wide awake the next morning, 
waiting for the breakfast bell to ring. Tavia had 
succeeded in convincing Dorothy that on a holiday 
trip, one should never get up until two minutes be- 
fore breakfast was served, and then to scramble 
madly to reach the table in time. This, Tavia, 
contended, was the only real way of knowing it 
was a holiday. 

“ I feel as much a part of New York City as 
any of the natives might,” answered Tavia. “ And 
there are such stacks of places we must yet ex- 
plore.” 


i79 


i8o DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


“ How different we will make Miss Mingle’s 
days, after we all return to the Glen,” Dorothy 
said. “ We’ll elect her one of our club, the noble 
little thing ! ” 

“ I feel like the most selfish of mortals in com- 
parison,” replied Tavia. “ Such goodness as hers 
is not common, I’m sure.” 

A jingling of musical bells announced breakfast, 
and to further impress the fact upon the family, 
every young person banged on the other one’s bed- 
room door, and the noise for a few minutes was 
deafening. 

“ Now, Tavia, please,” pleaded Dorothy, as she 
hurriedly dressed, “ don’t act so to Bob! You 
were so contrary last evening! ” 

“ Can’t help it,” declared Tavia. “ He inspires 
contrariness ! He’s so easy to tease ! ” 

During the meal Tavia kept perfectly quiet, her 
eyes modestly downcast, and Dorothy watched her 
with great misgivings. Tavia was beginning the 
day entirely too modestly. 

Another hour found the whole party on the 
banks of the lake in Central Park. The ice was 
in fine condition, and the lake as crowded as every 
spot in New York always seemed to be. 

u Oh, I haven’t forgotten the figure eight,” said 
Major Dale, with a laugh, as he struck out. Aunt 
Winnie watched him anxiously because she had less 
confidence in his recovery than did the major. It 


THICK ICE AND THIN 181 

was great fun for Roger and Joe to skate with 
their father. 

“ Girls,” said Aunt Winnie, as she tried bravely 
to balance herself, “ I’m really not as young as I 
think lam! I believe I’ll return to the car, bundle 
up in the fur robes and just watch.” 

The girls begged her to remain. Nat and Bob, 
after a long run to the end of the lake, had re- 
turned, and Nat grasped Aunt Winnie suddenly. 
Together they started up the lake, Aunt Winnie 
skating as gracefully as any of the young girls. 
Ned was tightening Dorothy’s skates as Bob ap- 
proached Tavia. 

“ Weren’t you surprised to see me yesterday? ” 
Bob wanted to know. “ You didn’t think I would 
come ; did you? ” 

“ I’ve been so busy, I don’t know what I really 
have been thinking,” was Tavia’s non-committal 
answer. 

“ But did you? ” persisted Bob, anxious to know 
whether Tavia had thought of him during her holi- 
day. Tavia knew that he was anxious. 

“ I hardly think I’ve thought much,” she an- 
swered, as she did some fancy skating, just elud- 
ing Bob and Nat as they tried to catch her. 

Dorothy complained to Tavia: “Isn’t it hor- 
rid the way people gather around just because two 
country girls can do a few fancy strokes on the 
ice!” 


1 82 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


“ It’s embarrassing to say the least,” replied 
Tavia, still dizzily whirling about. “ I’m glad, 
aren’t you, that the rules for city park lakes forbid 
small gatherings on the ice? The guard has broken 
up each little group that has threatened to intrude 
on our privacy.” 

“ Let them watch ! ” said Ned. “ We’ll give the 
city chaps some fine points on how to get over the 
ice!” 

“ Most of the girls, seem to enjoy just standing 
still in the cold,” said Bob, with a laugh. 

“ I know that girl with the bright red skating 
cap just bought skates because she had a skating 
cap; she can’t move on the ice,” said Dorothy. 

A tall man, with heavy gray hair and a fur over- 
coat, was skating near by, and he watched Tavia 
constantly. Dorothy noticed him and wondered 
at his persistence in keeping near their party. 
Tavia, however, was too deeply enraptured with 
her own antics on the ice, to pay attention to the 
mere onlookers. 

Nat and Dorothy challenged Bob and Tavia to 
a race to the end and back in a given time, and a 
strong breeze carried them swiftly down the lake. 
As they disappeared from sight, the tall stranger 
in the fur coat plainly noticed Mrs. White and the 
major, who stood watching the young people sail 
away down the lake. 

It was Mr. Akerson. 


THICK ICE AND THIN 183 

“ For once in my career I’ve made some kind 
of a mistake,” he muttered to himself. “ It was 
an inspiration to try to meet that pretty red-haired 
girl again, and by Jove ! the knowledge gained was 
worth the effort ! Now which one is she ; the niece 
or the niece’s chum?” he mused as his car sped 
through the park, for he had soon tired of the 
ice. 

“Well,” he said, with a laugh, “the little red- 
haired lass is not yet through with Mr. Akerson.” 

Before his car had reached the park entrance, 
another car passed him, containing Mrs. White 
and Major Dale homeward bound, the young 
people having decided to remain on the ice until 
lunch. 

Tavia had kept Bob just dancing whither her 
will o’ the wisp mood might lead. Finally it led 
the whole party up to the man who sold hot coffee 
and sandwiches. 

“This is the first really sensible move Tavia’s 
made to-day,” commented Nat, as his teeth sank 
into a sandwich. The steaming coffee trickled 
down the throats of the party accompanied by vari- 
ous comments, but no one, except Dorothy, noticed 
a little lad, followed by a yellow dog, who stood 
hungrily watching the steaming cups. He was the 
typical urchin of the streets of New York City, 
who had wandered from goodness knows where 
among the East side tenements, to bask in the sun- 


184 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


light of Central Park. His hands were dug deep 
into his ragged trousers, and his dirty little face 
sank into the collar of a very large coat. 

“Is dat orful hot?” he asked with interest, as 
Dorothy daintily drained her coffee cup. 

“ Are you cold? ” she asked, kindly. 

“ Naw,” he answered, in great disgust, “ I ain’t 
never cold, but the dawg is. Say, lady, could yer 
guv the dawg a hot drink o’ dat stuff ? ” 

“Dogs can’t drink coffee,” said Dorothy with 
a smile, “but you must have some.” 

The boy slipped behind the dog and smiled wist- 
fully at the coffee urns. 

“ Naw,” he said, “ I don’t want none.” But the 
hunger in his eyes was not to be denied by his 
brave little lips, and while Tavia and the boys 
made merry at the lunch counter, Dorothy quietly 
ordered coffee and sandwiches for the thin little 
boy. And he drank, and ate, every bit, insisting 
on sharing many mouthfuls with the yellow dog. 

He stayed with the party, wandering up and 
down the banks of the lake, until they were ready 
to depart, and then he followed at a respectful 
distance as they walked across town to Riverside 
Drive. He had nothing else to do, and the lady 
with the fluffy hair was kind and good to look at, 
and as his whole life was spent on the streets, he 
carelessly followed along until they reached home. 
Turning, Dorothy saw him, and something in the 


THICK ICE AND THIN 


185 


little face went straight to her heart. He did not 
look at all like her own little brothers, there was 
only the small boy manliness about him that, some- 
how, reminded her of Joe, and smiling encourage- 
ment for him to follow, he did so, until the porter 
stopped him in the apartment hall. 

“ It’s all right,” said Dorothy, in a low voice, 
“ he’s with us.” 

“What are you going to do with him? ” asked 
Tavia, as they piled on the elevator. 

“ Feed him all the things his little stomach has 
ever yearned for,” declared Dorothy. “ I’ve seen 
so many of him about the streets, and now I’m 
going to try and make one happy, for just a day! ” 

The little thin boy being enthroned in the kitch- 
enette with the yellow dog sprawled out on the 
floor, Dorothy returned to Tavia and the boys. 

“Why did not I see that little boy?” asked 
Tavia, soberly. 

“Because,” said Bob gently, “you were min- 
istering to the enjoyment and success of the skat- 
ing party.” 

“ Huh! ” said Tavia, in disdain. “ Dorothy is 
the most perfect darling! Who else would have 
looked about for someone to bestow kindnesses 
upon? I’m going right out to the little boy and — 
and help entertain him.” And in deep repentance 
Tavia strode out to the kitchenette, to make up to 


1 86 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


the thin boy whom she would have passed by if 
Dorothy had not been kind to him. 

Soon the boys stood outside the door listening 
to Tavia patiently trying to say the very nicest 
things ! 

At Ned’s suggestion, that a little practice on 
Tavia’s part, in saying nice things, should by no 
means be interrupted, they rushed to the drawing 
room, and Dorothy played the pinao while the 
boys sang. Dorothy finally jumped up, with her 
fingers in her ears, and declared she was becoming 
deaf, so Nat immediately sat down on the piano 
stool, and the singing continued. 

Aunt Winnie looked in for a moment and 
begged the bass to try to sing tenor ! And even 
the very boyish major closed his door to shut out 
the hideous sounds. But nothing disturbed Tavia, 
who was bent on making up to little Tommy. 


CHAPTER XX 


A THICKENED PLOT 

44 This is becoming a habit,” said Dorothy to 
Tavia, as they climbed the steps of the Fifth 
Avenue ’bus, homeward bound after a few morn- 
ing hours spent in the shopping district, the day 
after the skating party. 

44 Everybody seems to have the habit too,” com- 
mented Tavia. “We can shop steadily for two 
hours, and still not purchase anything. That’s 
what I find so fascinating! ” 

“To me the charm of shopping lies in being 
able to buy anything that inspires one at the mo- 
ment, and then calmly return it the next day. In 
that way, we can really possess for a few hours 
almost anything we set our hearts on,” said Doro- 
thy gleefully. 

“ Like returning the brass horses and finger 
bowls ! ” said Tavia. 

“Not to mention the rows of books and boxes 
of handkerchiefs,” Dorothy opened a box of choc- 
olates as she spoke, and the candy occupied their 
attention for several minutes. 

187 


1 88 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


The ’bus stopped for a man who had hastily 
crossed the street in front of it. He climbed the 
steps and sat directly opposite the girls from the 
country. Tavia was busy with her thoughts and 
did not see him. Dorothy, however, noticed him, 
but said nothing to Tavia, because, for one fright- 
ened moment, she remembered him as the stranger 
who had so closely watched Tavia on the lake the 
morning before. To divert attention she began 
to talk rapidly. 

“ I’m so sorry Bob cannot stay after to-morrow 
morning,” she said. At mention of Bob’s name 
Tavia turned her head toward the sidewalk, and 
away from the stranger. “ Do you recall the first 
time we met him, Tavia? ” 

“I don’t recall much about Bob,” said Tavia, 
diffidently, “ I think he is too domineering. He is 
always preaching to me ! ” 

“ He takes a brotherly interest in your welfare,” 
teased Dorothy, for Bob was the one subject on 
which Tavia could really be teased. “Ned seems 
to have lost his place of big brother to Tavia,” she 
continued, meanwhile casting sidewise glances at 
the man opposite. He sat staring deliberately at 
Tavia, and Dorothy was just about to suggest that 
they leave the ’bus and rid themselves of the man’s 
distasteful glances, when Tavia glanced across the 
aisle and recognized the real estate agent! 

For some reason that Tavia could not then 


A THICKENED PLOT 189 

fathom, she trembled, and quickly jumped up, say- 
ing to Dorothy: 

“ Let’s get off here ! I’d rather walk the rest of 
the way; wouldn’t you? ” 

As Dorothy had been about to suggest that very 
thing, she looked in surprise from the man to 
Tavia and saw him raise his hat. 

“This is a very fortunate meeting,” said Mr. 
Akerson to Tavia, “ I couldn’t have asked for any- 
thing more timely. Mrs. White, your aunt, ex- 
pects to be at my office in twenty minutes and she 
expressed a desire, over the telephone, to have you 
girls meet her there. How strangely things hap- 
pen! I am so fortunate as to be able to deliver 
the message, and you will get there almost as soon 
as she will.” He spoke easily, and with a slight 
smile about his lips. 

“My aunt?” repeated Tavia, mystified, “I 
haven’t an aunt! ” 

“ Isn’t Mrs. White your aunt,” he asked. 

“ Mrs. White is my aunt,” interrupted Doro- 
thy. “Who are you please?” 

“ Mr. Akerson, Mrs. White’s real estate man- 
ager. Have I the pleasure of addressing her 
niece? ” 

Dorothy assented with a quick nod of her head. 
“ But we were not informed of her visit to your 
office,” she said quickly. 

“ Do just as you like,” said Mr. Akerson, coolly, 


190 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 

“ I get off here. I only thought it lucky to have 
had the pleasure of carrying out Mrs. White’s 
wishes. Don’t misunderstand me,” he added, “ I 
did not start out to hunt through the New York 
shops for you, it was merely a happy coincidence 
that we met. Mrs. White ’phoned me after you 
left and merely mentioned that as she was coming 
down town she wished she could meet you. Well, 
I’ve an engagement on this block for five minutes, 
and then I return to meet Mrs. White in my 
office.” 

He left the ’bus and the girls just stared ! 

“ How did that man know us? ” cried Dorothy, 
too astounded to think of any answer to her own 
question. 

“ I know how he knew me,” said Tavia, grimly. 
“ But how did he know I knew? Oh, dear me, it’s 
all knows and knews; what am I trying to say? ” 

“ Can people in New York sense relationship 
as folk pass by on top of ’buses?” questioned 
Dorothy, of the dazzling sunlight. 

“Why,” queried Tavia, “should Aunt Winnie 
tell him that she wanted us to meet her at his 
office?” 

“Or how,” demanded Dorothy, “did he hap- 
pen to be in just this section of the city and jump 
on our very ’bus? ” 

“ But Mrs. White may even now be waiting for 
us, anxiously hoping for our arrival,” exclaimed 


A THICKENED PLOT 


191 

Tavia; “though of course she couldn’t guess he 
would meet us. It must me a strange chance, as 
he says.” 

“Of course we start down town immediately,” 
declared Dorothy, “ I know the address.” 

“Well Dorothy,” said Tavia, mysteriously, 
“ Mr. Akerson maybe a shrewd business man, and 
be playing a skillful game, but I am not one whit 
afraid to go directly to his office, and see the whole 
thing through to the end ! ” 

“ It’s exactly what I intend to do,” said Doro- 
thy, decidedly. “ This, I rather feel, may be our 
unexpected opportunity to quickly squelch the well- 
laid plans of this man. But, Tavia, aren’t you 
just a little bit dubious about going alone ? Hadn’t 
we better return home first? ” 

“ No, we’ll take the next car downtown, and we 
must work together to lay bare the real facts ! ” 
declared Tavia as they ran for a downtown Broad- 
way car. 


CHAPTER XXI 


FRIGHT AND COURAGE 

With unhesitating steps, Tavia led Dorothy, 
without any of the confusion of her own first visit, 
directly to Mr. Akerson’s offices. 

The same switchboard operator sat sleepy-eyed 
at the telephone, and the same young person con- 
ducted the girls through the office suite, the only 
difference was that the hour was near twelve, and 
most of the desks were empty, as the clerks had 
left the building for lunch. 

The offices seemed strangely quiet, as the girls 
sat, with their hearts beating wildly, waiting for 
the door marked “ Private ” to open. When it did, 
Mr. Akerson came forth with a genial smile. 

“ I arrived a little ahead of you,” said he, and he 
led the girls into his private office. 

“ But where is Mrs. White? ” demanded Doro- 
thy. 

“ Evidently delayed in reaching here,” answered 
Mr. Akerson, pulling his watch from his pocket. 
“No doubt she’ll be here directly.” 

192 


FRIGHT AND COURAGE 


193 


With this the girls had to be content. Dorothy- 
watched the door, expecting to see Aunt Winnie 
enter at every sound. 

“ Well,” said the man, balancing himself on his 
heels, “ and what is the decision in regard to the 
apartment you wanted?” 

Tavia shot a meaning glance in Dorothy’s di- 
rection and Dorothy quickly suppressed a start 
of surprise at the man’s words. She decided in- 
stantly that she must watch Tavia’s every glance, 
if she were to follow the hidden meaning. 

“ Haven’t decided yet,” carelessly answered 
Tavia. “ Besides, there’s plenty of time.” 

“ Are you sure it was an apartment you wanted, 
or ” — the man wheeled about his desk chair and 
arranged himself comfortably before continuing — 
“was it just a woman’s curiosity?” He smiled 
broadly at the girls; his look was that of a very 
kindly disposed gentleman. 

“ My reasons were just as I stated — I may want 
an apartment — I liked the arrangement of the 
Court Apartments, and was seeking information 
for my own future use,” defiantly replied Tavia. 

“ Of course, of course,” Mr. Akerson replied. 
“But why come to me? Couldn’t — er — your 
friend here have secured the information from — 
well say, from Mrs. White?” 

“ Mrs. White, I regret to say, Mr. Akerson,” 


194 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 

responded Dorothy, “ seems to be ill-informed 
about her own property.” 

“ Mrs. White has access to my books,” he re- 
plied coldly, “ whenever she chooses to look them 
over. Everything is there in black and white.” 

“Except your verbal statements to me,” said 
Tavia, standing up and facing Mr. Akerson. 
“Your statement that rents used to be thirty-five 
dollars, and are now one hundred dollars.” 

Dorothy guessed instantly whither Tavia was 
leading. 

“ And the difference between the thirty-five dol- 
lars and the one hundred dollars,” she asked, 
“goes to whom? Some charitable institution per- 
haps?” 

“ Ha ! Ha ! ” laughed Mr. Akerson, “ that’s 
rich! So you,” he turned to Tavia, “ took all my 
nonsense so seriously that you’re convinced I’m a 
scoundrel.” His teeth gleamed wickedly through 
his stubby mustache, and Dorothy wished that 
Aunt Winnie would hurry. She did not like this 
man. 

“ By your own statements you’ve convicted your- 
self,” declared Tavia. “The morning I inter- 
viewed you, you did not know me, and told me 
your prices.” 

“You’re wrong; I did know you,” declared the 
man bluntly. “ I knew you to be a friend of Mrs. 
Bergham’s, that you had listened to a rambling 


FRIGHT AND COURAGE 


195 


tale of that feeble-minded woman, and came to me 
expecting to have it confirmed — and, as you know, 
I fully confirmed it. By the way, Mrs. Bergham 
moves to-day, but I suppose you are thoroughly 
conversant with her affairs.” 

Like a shot the thought came to Dorothy and 
Tavia, as they exchanged glances, could Mrs. 
Bergham, who certainly did not seem dependable, 
misrepresent matters to gain sympathy for her- 
self? But as quickly came the picture of patient 
Miss Mingle, and all doubt vanished at once. 

“ That’s true,” confessed Tavia, “ the first ink- 
ling of absolute wrong-doing came quite unexpect- 
edly through Mrs. Bergham. I’m sorry, though, 
that she has been ordered to move on account of 
it.” 

“ Mrs. Bergham will not move,” said Dorothy, 
quietly. “ We have sufficient evidence, I should 
say, Mr. Akerson, to convince even you that your 
wrong-doings have at last been found out.” 

Mr. Akerson jumped to his feet, a sudden rage 
seeming to possess him. 

He sprang to the door and locked it and turned 
on the girls. Tavia slipped instinctively behind a 
chair, but Dorothy stood her ground, facing the 
enraged man with courage and aloofness. 

“You can’t frighten me, Mr. Akerson,” she 
said to him. White with rage the man approached 
nearer and nearer to Dorothy. 


196 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 

“ Just what do you mean? ” he asked, and there 
was that in the cool, and incisive quality of his 
tones that made both girls feel, if they had not 
before, that they had rather undertaken too much 
in coming to the office. 

There was silence for a moment in the office, a 
silence that seemed yet to echo to the rasping of 
the lock in the door, a sound that had a sinister 
meaning. And yet it seemed to flash to Dorothy 
that, at the worst, the man could only frighten 
them — force them, perhaps, to some admission 
that would make his own case stand out in a better 
light, if it came to law procedings. 

Too late, Dorothy realized, as perhaps did Tav- 
ia, that they had been indiscrete, from a legal 
standpoint, in thus coming into the camp of an 
enemy, unprotected by a lawyer’s advice. 

All sorts of complications might ensue from 
this hasty proceeding. Yet Dorothy, even in 
that moment of trouble, realized that she must 
keep her brain clear for whatever might transpire. 
Tavia, she felt, might do something reckless — well 
meant, no doubt, but none the less something that 
might put a weapon in the hands of the man 
. against whom they hoped to proceed for the sake 
of Aunt Winnie. 

“Just what do you mean?” snapped the man 
again, and he seemed master of the situation, even 
though Dorothy thought she detected a gleam of 


FRIGHT AND COURAGE 


197 


— was it fear? in his eyes. “ I am not in the habit 
of being spoken to in that manner/’ he went on. 

“ I am afraid I shall have to ask you to explain 
yourself. It is the first time I have ever been ac- 
cused of wrongdoing.” 

“ I guess it isn’t the first time it has happened, 
though,” murmured Tavia. 

“What’s that?” demanded the man, quickly 
turning toward her. Even bold Tavia quailed, so 
menacing did his action seem. 

“There always has to be a first time,” she sub- 
stituted in louder tones. 

“ I don’t know whether you are aware of it, or 
not, young ladies,” the agent proceeded, “ but it is 
rather a dangerous proceeding to make indiscrim- 
inate accusations, as you have just done to me.” 

“Danger — dangerous?” faltered Dorothy. 

“ Exactly ! ” and the sleek fellow smiled in unc- 
tuous fashion. “ There is such a thing as criminal 
libel, you know.” 

“ But we haven’t published anything! ” retorted 
Tavia. “ I — I thought a libel had to be pub- 
lished.” 

“ The publishing of a libel is not necessarily in 
a newspaper,” retorted Mr. Akerson. “It may 
be done by word of mouth, as our courts have held 
in several cases. I warn you to be careful of what 
you say.” 

“He seems to be well up on court matters,” 


198 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


thought Tavia, taking heart. “ I guess he isn’t so 
innocent as he would like to appear.” 

“ I would like to know what you young ladies 
want here? ” the agent blurted out. 

“ Information,” said Tavia, sharply. 

“ What for?” 

“What is information generally for?” asked 
Tavia, verbally fencing with the man. “ We want 
to know where we stand.” 

“ Do you mean you want to find out what sort 
of apartments they are — whether they are of high 
class? ” 

He was assuming a more and more defiant at- 
titude, as he plainly saw that the girls, as he 
thought, were weakening. 

“ Something of that sort — yes,” answered Tav- 
ia. “ You know we want to start right. But then, 
of course,” and she actually smiled, “ we would like 
to know all the ins and outs. We are not at all 
business-like — I admit that — and we certainly did 
not mean to libel you.” Crafty Tavia! Thus, she 
thought she might minimize any unintentional in- 
discretion she had committed. 

“ Mrs. White doesn’t know much about busi- 
ness, either,” she went on. “She would like to, 
though, wouldn’t she, Dorothy?” 

“Oh, yes — yes,” breathed Dorothy, scarcely 
knowing what she said. She was trying to think 


FRIGHT AND COURAGE 


199 


of a way out of the dilemma in which she and 
Tavia found themselves. 

“ I will give Mrs. White any information she 
may need,” said Mr. Akerson, coldly. 

“But about the apartments themselves,” said 
Tavia. “ She wants to know what income they 
bring in — about the new improvements — the class 
of tenants — Oh, the thousand and one things that 
a woman ought to know about her own property.” 

“ Rather indefinite,” sneered the man. 

“ I don’t mean to be so,” flashed Tavia. “ I 
want to be very definite — as very definite as it is 
possible for you to be,” and she looked meaningly 
at the agent. “ We want to know all you can tell 
us,” she went on, and, growing bolder, added: 
“We want to know why there is not more money 
coming from those apartments; don’t we, Doro- 
thy? ” and she moved over nearer to her chum. 

“Yes — yes, of course,” murmured Dorothy, 
hardly knowing what she was saying, and hoping 
Tavia was not going too far. 

“ More money? ” the agent cried. 

“Yes,” retorted Tavia. “ What have you done 
that you should be entitled to more than the legal 
rate? ” 

“ I brought those apartments up to their present 
fitness,” he snarled, “ and whatever I get over 
and above the regular rentals, is mine; do you 
understand that? What do you know about real 


200 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


estate laws? I’ll keep you both locked in this 
office, until I grind out of your heads the silliness 
that led you to try and trap me. I’ll keep you 
here until ” 

“You will not,” said Dorothy. 

‘‘Where did she go?” He suddenly missed 
Tavia, and Dorothy, turning, saw too that Tavia 
had disappeared. 

“ This is nothing but a scheme to get us down 
here,” cried Dorothy, after several moments of 
anxiety, “ Aunt Winnie was never expected, and 
now Tavia has gone ! ” 

“ Oh, no I haven’t,” cried Tavia, as she stepped 
from a sound-proof private telephone booth. “I’ve 
just been looking about the office. It’s an interest- 
ing place, and the melodrama of Mr. Akerson I 
found quite wearisome.” 

“Also that my private ’phone isn’t connected; 
didn’t you ? ” he said. Suddenly dropping the pose 
of the villain in a cheap melodrama, he smiled 
again and rubbing his hands together said, as 
though there never had been a disagreeable word 
uttered: 

“ Seriously, girls, that Bergham woman is out 
of her head, that’s a fact. You must know there 
is something queer about her.” 

On that point he certainly had Dorothy and 
Tavia puzzled. Mrs. Bergham surely was not the 
kind of a person either Tavia or Dorothy would 


FRIGHT AND COURAGE 


201 


have selected as a friend, and they looked at the 
man with hesitation. He followed up the advan- 
tage he had gained quickly. 

“ Here’s something you young ladies knew noth- 
ing about — that woman has hallucinations ! It has 
nearly driven her poor little sister, Miss Mingle, 
distracted. Why, girls, she tells Miss Mingle such 
yarns, and the poor little woman believes them and 
blames me.” He looked terribly hurt and mis- 
understood. 

“To show your good faith,” demanded Doro- 
thy, “ unlock the door. Then we will listen to all 
you have to say. But, first, I must command you 
to talk to us with the doors wide open ! ” 

“ With pleasure, it was stupid to have locked it 
at all,” he agreed affably. “Now if you’ll just 
come with me to the bookkeeper’s department I’ll 
prove everything to your entire satisfaction, and 
since Mrs. White has not seen fit to keep her ap- 
pointment, you may convey the intelligence to her, 
just where you stand in this matter.” 

“About the apartment we might wish to rent,” 
said Tavia, serenely, “ have you the floor plan, that 
we might look over it? ” 

Tavia was just behind Mr. Akerson, and Doro- 
thy brought up the rear. 

“ I’m not as much interested in the books as in 
the floor plan,” explained Tavia. 

“ The only one I have is hanging on the wall of 


202 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


my private office, he said slowly, looking Tavia 
over from head to foot. 

“ If you’ll show me the books, so that I can ex- 
plain matters to my aunt, while Miss Travers is 
looking over the plan of the apartment she may 
wish to take,” said Dorothy seriously, “we can 
bring this rather unpleasant call to an end.” 

“ I’m sure I am sorry for any unpleasantness,” 
said Mr. Akerson, “ but you’ll admit your manner 
of talking business is just a little crude. No man 
wants to be almost called a scoundrel and a cheat.” 

“ The books, I hope,” Dorothy answered bring- 
ing out her words slowly and clearly, “will show 
where the error lies. By the way, do you collect 
these rents in person, or do you employ a sub- 
agent? ” 

“ This, you understand, is not a company mat- 
ter. It’s a little investment of my own, and I take 
such pride in that house, that I allow no one to 
interfere with it. Yes, I collect the rents and give 
my personal attention to all repairing. If I do 
say it myself, it is the best-cared-for apartments in 
this city to-day. And I’ll tell you this confidently, 
Miss Dale, five per cent, for collecting doesn’t pay 
me for my time. But I’m interested in the up- 
building of that house, you understand.” 

Tavia strolled leisurely back to the private office, 
while Mr. Akerson went into a smaller office just 
off the private one, and while he was bending over 


FRIGHT AND COURAGE 


203 


the combination of the safe, quick as a flash, Doro- 
thy took off the receiver of the desk telephone 
from the hook, and, in almost a whisper, asked 
central for their Riverside home number. 

“Ned,” she gasped, when she heard his voice, 
“ quick, don’t waste a moment! This is Dorothy. 
We are in Akerson’s office and are frightened! 
Come downtown at once! I’m afraid we won’t 
be able to hold out much longer! Quick, quick, 
Ned ! ” Then she softly put the receiver back and 
turned just in time to see Mr. Akerson rising from 
before the safe with a bundle of books in his arms. 
Dorothy to hide her confusion bent over a blue 
print that had been hanging on the walls, but all 
she saw was a confused bunch of white lines drawn 
on a blue background, and from the outer room 
came the sound of Tavia’s voice, as she and Mr. 
Akerson went over the pages of the ledger, the 
alert girl seizing the opportunity to dip into the 
books as well as look at the floor plans in order to 
gain more time. 


CHAPTER XXII 


CAPTURED BY TWO GIRLS 

Dorothy pored over the blue print for a long 
time. She was growing so nervous that all the 
little white lines on the paper began dancing about 
and grinning at her, and Mr. Akerson’s voice and 
Tavia’s in the other room became louder and loud- 
er. Every footstep as the clerks returned, one by 
one, from lunch, set her heart palpitating, and she 
clenched her hands nervously. She feared that 
Mr. Akerson would in some way evade them, dis- 
appear before Ned and the boys could arrive! 

Tavia seemed so calm and self-possessed and ex- 
amined the books so critically that Dorothy mar- 
veled at her! Surely Tavia could not understand 
so complicated a thing as a ledger! Off in the dis- 
tance, at the end of the suite, Dorothy suddenly 
saw a familiar brown head, and behind a shaggy 
white head, and then a pair of great, braid shoul- 
ders, and in back of them a modish bonnet framing 
the dignified face of Aunt Winnie ! 

204 


CAPTURED BY TWO GIRLS 


20 


“ Dorothy, ” she called, running forward. 
“ Here they are ! ” 

Dorothy’s interest in the prints ceased instantly, 
and she sprang after Tavia. 

Mr. Akerson’s face blanched and he withdrew 
to his private office. 

All the clerks returned discreetly to their 
work, typewriters clicking merrily, as the family 
filed down through the offices and into Mr. Aker- 
son’s private room. He faced them all until he 
met the clear eyes of Mrs. White, then he shifted 
uneasily and requested Bob, who came in last, to 
close the door. 

“What’s it all about, Dorothy?” asked Bob 
in clear, cool tones, as he looked with rather a con- 
temptuous glance at the agent. “ Has someone 
been annoying you?” and he seemed to swell up 
his splendid muscles under his coat-sleeves — mus- 
cles that had been hardened by a healthy, active 
out-of-door life in camp. 

“ If there has,” continued Bob, as he looked for 
a place in the paper-littered office to place his hat, 
“ if there has, I’d just like to have a little talk with 
them — outside,” and the lad nodded significantly 
toward the hall. 

“ Oh, Bob ! ” began Dorothy. “ You mustn’t — • 
that is — Oh, I’m sure it’s all a mistake,” she said, 
hastily. 


206 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


“ That’s more like it,” said Mr. Akerson, and 
he seemed to smile in relief. Somehow he looked 
rather apprehensively at Bob, Tavia thought. She, 
herself, was admiring the lad’s manliness. 

“ But you telephoned,” Bob continued. “We 
were quite alarmed over it. You said ” 

“ Young ladies aren’t always responsible for 
what they say over the ’phone,” put in Mr. Aker- 
son, with what he meant to be a genial smile at 
Bob. “ I fancy — er — we men of the world real- 
ize that. If Miss Dale has any complaint to make 
” he paused suggestively. 

“ Oh, I don’t know what to do ! ” cried Dorothy. 
“ There certainly seems to be some need of a com- 
plaint, and yet ” 

“ Doro, dear, have you been trying to straighten 
out my business for me ? ” demanded Mrs. White, 
with a gracious smile. 

“Aunt Winne — I don’t exactly know. Tavia 
here, she ” 

“We’re trying the straightening-out process,” 
put in Tavia. “We had just started after being 
locked — : — ” 

“Careful!” warned the agent. “I cautioned 
you about libel, you remember, and that snapping 
shut of the lock on the door was an error, I tell 
you.” 

“ Never mind about that part,” broke in Tavia. 





Millie 




iPi 


|g 







npySfy ■ 

BHh* .^Pff 






r H 


“don't look at them, aunt winnie/' cried dorothy. 
“the entries are false!" 


Dorothy Dale in the City 


Page 207 





CAPTURED BY TWO GIRLS 


207 

“ Tell us about the business end of it. About the 
rents, why they have fallen off, and all the rest.” 

“ Have you really been going over the books 
with him, Dorothy?” asked Mrs. White, in won- 
der. 

“Allow me to tell about matters,” interrupted 
Akerson. “ I think I understand it better.” 

“ You ought to,” murmured Tavia. 

“ I will listen to you, Mr. Akerson,” said Mrs. 
White, gravely. “You may proceed.” 

“As I have just been saying to Miss Dale,” he 
went on, pointing to the ledgers on his desks, “this 
matter can be explained in two minutes, if you will 
just glance over these entries.” 

He pushed the books toward Aunt Winnie. 

“ Don’t look at them, Aunt Winnie,” cried 
Dorothy. “The entries are false! We have his 
own words to prove his wrong-doing! His state- 
ments to Tavia and Miss Mingle’s word to us are 
different.” 

And by a peculiar net of circumstances, which 
invariably occur when one thread tightens about a 
guilty man, Miss Mingle at that moment walked 
into the room ! She had come to demand justice 
from the man who had served removal notice upon 
herself and her sister, Mrs. Bergham. She held 
the notice in her hand. Major Dale took it, and 
tearing it in small pieces, placed it in a waste paper 
basket. 


208 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


“He admitted to me, quite freely,” protested 
Tavia, “ that every tenant in the house paid eighty 
or one hundred dollars for his or her apartment! ” 
Miss Mingle at first could not grasp the mean- 
ing of it, but as Dorothy quickly explained that 
her aunt was the owner of the apartment, it 
dawned on Miss Mingle just how, after all, the 
guilty are punished, even though the road to justice 
be a long and crooked one. 

“You never spent a penny on that place,” 
growled Mr. Akerson, “ I spent a good pile of 
my own money, just to fix it up after my own ideas 
of a studio apartment.” 

“ I spent more than half of my income of thirty- 
five dollars per month from each apartment, for 
constant repairs, and when I discussed with you, 
as you well know, the advisability of advancing 
the rents a few dollars to cover the outlay, you 
discouraged it, said it was impossible in that sec- 
tion of the city to ask more than thirty-five dol- 
lars,” said Mrs. White sternly. 

“What these books really show,” said Doro- 
thy, “ is the enormous amount that is due Aunt 
Winnie from Mr. Akerson! ” 

“The tenants are so dissatisfied,” explained 
Miss Mingle, “ the constant increases in the rent 
were so unreasonable ! The porter in the house, 
so we have found, was in league with Mr. Aker- 


CAPTURED BY TWO GIRLS 209 

son, and kept him informed of everything that 
happened.” 

“That’s how,” said Tavia, with a hysterical 
laugh, “ he knew whom it was we called on at the 
Court Apartments ! ” 

“ Easy there,” said Bob to Tavia, “ don’t start 
laughing that way, or you’ll break down, and I’ll 
have to take care of you.” 

“ It’s been so awful, Bob,” said Tavia, his name 
slipping naturally from her lips. “ We tried to 
carry it through all alone ! ” 

“Just as soon as you’re left to yourselves,” he 
said with a smile, “ you begin to get into all sorts 
of trouble ! ” 

“ There is only one thing to say,” declared Ma- 
jor Dale, advancing toward Mr. Akerson. “ Nat 
will figure up what you owe to Mrs. White, you 
will sit down and write out a check for the amount, 
and that will close further transactions with you ! ” 

Mr. Akerson fingered his check book, and made 
one last effort to explain: 

“ Miss Mingle is influenced by her sister, who 
has hallucinations,” but he could say no more, for 
Major Dale and Bob came toward him threaten- 
ingly. 

“ Miss Mingle teaches my daughter in school, 
and we will hear nothing from you about her fam- 
ily,” said Major Dale, decidedly. 


2io DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


“ I demand justice! ” cried Mr. Akerson, jump- 
ing from his seat. 

“ I call this justice,” calmly answered the major. 

“ I shall not be coerced into signing a check and 
handing it to Mrs. White. I’ll take this matter 
to the proper authorities,” the agent fumed, as he 
walked rapidly to and fro. “ It’s an injustice. 
I tell you I’m innocent.” 

“ Then prove your innocence !” answered Major 
Dale. 

The ladies were beginning to show signs of the 
nervous strain. Miss Mingle and Tavia were al- 
most in hysterics, while Dorothy clung to Mrs. 
White’s arm. 

“ You do not understand the laws in this State,” 
declared Mr. Akerson. “ There is no charge 
against me. I defy you to prove one ! ” 

“Very well, we will summon one who under- 
stands the laws, and decide the matter at once,” 
said Major Dale; “meanwhile, you ladies leave 
these disagreeable surroundings.” 

“After all,” said Miss Mingle, as they left the 
office building, “ we won’t have the awful bother 
of moving; will we, dear Mrs. White?” Her 
voice was full of pleading. 

“ No, indeed, and as soon as everything is set- 
tled, we must try to find an honest agent to care 
for the place. I am convinced that Mr. Akerson 


CAPTURED BY TWO GIRLS 


21 1 


is not honest, in spite of all he said,” said Mrs. 
White. 

“ My poor sister ! ” sighed Miss Mingle. “ She 
almost collapsed at the mere thought of having to 
leave that apartment.” 

“Never mind,” consoled Mrs. White, “every- 
thing will be all right now. And you dear girls, 
how you ever had the courage to face that situation 
all alone, I cannot understand ! ” 

“Oh, it was nothing! ” said Tavia, really be- 
lieving, since the worst part of it was over, that it 
had been nothing at all. 

“ I almost imagine we enjoyed it! ” Dorothy ex- 
claimed. 

“Oh, nonsense,” said Mrs. White, “you are 
both so nervous, you look as though another week’s 
rest would be needed. You are pale, both of you.” 

“Well, I don’t feel one bit pale,” said Tavia. 
“ Still I think I’ll lie down, when we get home.” 

“So will I, but I’m not tired,” declared Doro- 
thy. 

“They are too young; too high spirited,” said 
Mrs. White to Miss Mingle, as they parted; “they 
won’t admit the awful strain they have been under 
all day.” 

An hour later, when the boys and Major Dale 
returned to the apartment, all was quiet, and they 
tiptoed about for fear of awakening the girls. 
Aunt Winnie was waiting for them. 


212 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


“ It’s all settled,” whispered Major Dale. “We 
have Akerson under bonds to appear in three days 
to pay back all money due you.” 

“And to think that Dorothy and Tavia un- 
raveled the mystery! ” sighed Aunt Winnie. 

“ Hurrah ! ” said the boys, in a whisper. “ Hur- 
rah for the girls ! ” 

Which brought the girls into the room. 


CHAPTER XXIII 


PATHOS AND POVERTY 

Dorothy roused the next morning with a 
sense of great relief after the strenuous 
hours of the previous day. At last they were 
beginning to accomplish something in the way of 
straightening out Aunt Winnie’s complicated mon- 
ey matters. It was a decided rest to turn her 
thoughts to the poor boy who had spent a little 
time in their kitchenette — the boy who just ate 
what was offered him, and grinned good-naturedly 
at the family. 

He had evidently considered them all a part 
of the day’s routine, and accepted the food, and 
the warmth, and kindness with a hardened in- 
difference that made Dorothy curious. He had 
grudgingly given Dorothy his street and house 
number. He was so flint-like, and skeptical about 
rich people helping poor people, his young life 
had had such varied experience with the settle- 
ment workers, that he plainly did not wish to see 
more of his hostess. 


213 


214 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


It was an easy matter for Dorothy to just smile 
and declare she was “going out.” Tavia was 
curled up in numerous pillows, surrounded by 
magazines and boxes of candy, and the boys were 
going skating. City ice did not “ keep ” as did the 
ice in the country, and the only way to enjoy it 
while it lasted, as Ned explained, was to spend 
every moment skating madly. 

Dorothy read the address, Rivington Street, 
and wondered as she started forth what this, her 
first real glimpse into the life of New York City’s 
poor, would reveal. She was a bit tremulous, and 
anxious to reach the place. 

“Where is this number, little boy?” she in- 
quired, of a street urchin. 

“Over there,” responded a voice buried in the 
depths of a turned-up collar. “I know you,” it 
said impudently. One glance into the large, 
heavily-lashed eyes made Dorothy smile. Here 
was the very same thin boy upon whom she was 
going to call. 

“ Is you mother at home? ” she asked. 

“Sure,” he replied, “ so’s father.” Then he 
laughed impishly. 

“And have you brothers and sisters, too?” 
said Dorothy. 

“ Sure.” He looked Dorothy over carefully, 
decided she could keep a secret, and coming close 
to her he whispered: “We got the mcstest big 


PATHOS AND POVERTY 


215 


family in de street; nobody’s got as many chil- 
drens as we got! ” Then he stood back proudly. 

“I want to see them all,” coaxed Dorothy. 
She hesitated about entering the tenement to which 
the thin boy led her. It was tall and dirty and a 
series of odors, unknown to Dorothy’s well- 
brought-up nose, rushed to meet them as the hall 
door was pushed open. The fire escapes covering 
the front of the house were used for back yards — 
ash heaps and garbage, bedding and washes, all 
hung suspended, threatening to topple over on the 
heads of the passersby, and the long, dark hall 
they entered was also littered with garbage cans, 
and an accumulation of dirty rags and papers and 
children. 

Such frowsy-headed, unkempt, ragged little 
babies! Dorothy’s heart went out to them all — 
she wanted to take each one and wash the little 
face, and smooth the suspicious, sullen brows. 
The advent of a well-dressed visitor into the 
main hall meant the opening of many doors 
and a wonderfully frank assortment of remarks 
as to whom the visitor might be. Little Tommy, 
the thin boy, glad of the opportunity to “ show 
off ” grandly led Dorothy up the stairs, making 
the most of the trip. 

“ The other day when I was skatin’ with you in 
Central Park,” flippantly fell from Tommy’s lips, 
loud enough for the words to enter bombastically 


216 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


through the open doors, “ I come home and said 

to the family, I sez, ” but what Tommy had 

said to the family never was known, because the 
remainder of Tommy’s family having heard in 
advance of Tommy’s coming, rushed pell-mell to 
meet them, and with various smudgy fingers stuck 
into all sizes of mouths, they stared, some through 
the railings, some over the railing, more from the 
top step — the “mostest biggest family” ex- 
hibited no tendency to hang back. 

“ Come in out of that, you little ones,” said a 
soft, motherly voice, that sounded clear and sweet 
in the midst of the tumult of the tenement house, 
and Dorothy looked quickly in the direction from 
whence it came and beheld Tommy’s mother. She 
was small and dark, and in garments of fashion 
would have been dainty. She seemed little older 
than Tommy, who was nine, and life in the poorest 
section of the city, trying to bring up a large family 
in three rooms, had left no tragic marks on her 
smooth brow, and when she smiled, she dimpled. 
Dorothy smiled back instantly, the revelation of 
this mother was so unexpectedly different from 
anything Dorothy had imagined. 

“ They will run out in the hall,” the mother ex- 
plained, apologetically, “and they’re only half- 
dressed, and it’s so cold that they’ll all be down with 
sore throats, if they don’t mind me. Now come in- 
side, every one of you ! ” But not one of the children 


PATHOS AND POVERTY 


217 


moved an inch until Dorothy reached the top 
landing, then they all backed into the room, which 
at a glance Dorothy was unable at first to name. 
There was a cot in one corner, a stove, a large 
table, and sink in another, and one grand easy 
chair near near a window. Regular chairs there 
were none, but boxes aplenty, and opening from 
this kitchen-bedroom-living-room was an uncar- 
peted, evil-looking room, and in the doorway a 
giant of a man stood, looking in bleary-eyed be- 
wilderment at Dorothy. 

“You’ll get your rent when I get my pay,” he 
said, with an ill-natured leer. “ So he’s sending 
you around now? Afraid to come himself after 
the scare I gave him the last time? D’ye remem- 
ber the scare I gave him Nellie? ” he turned to the 
little woman. 

With a curious love and pride in this great, help- 
less giant, his wife straightened his necktie, that 
hung limply about the neck of his blue flannel 
shirt, and patting his hand said, caressingly: 

“Now stop your foolin’, she’s not from the 
rent-man, she’s a friend of our Tommy’s, — the 
lady that went skatin’ with Tommy in the Park; 
don’t you know, James ? ” 

James straightened himself against the panels 
of the door, and stared down at Dorothy, but his 
first idea that she was after his week’s pay was 
evident in his manner. 


218 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


“ You wouldn’t of got it if you did come for it,” 
he declared, proudly, “ ’cause it ain’t so far be- 
hind that you could make me pay it.” 

“ It’s only when he’s gettin’ over a sleepless 
night,” explained Tommy’s mother, pathetically, 
“ that he worries so. When he’s well,” she whis- 
pered to Dorothy, “ he don’t worry about nothin’ ; 
but when his money’s all gone and he ain’t well, the 
way he frets about me and the children is some- 
thin’ awful! ” She looked at her husband with 
wonderful pride and pleasure in possessing so com- 
plicated a man. 

Dorothy wondered, in a dazed way, what hap- 
pened when the entire family wished to sit down 
at the same time. She could count just four suit- 
able seating places, and there were nine members 
of the family. The smallest member, a wan, blue- 
lipped baby in arms, had a look on its face of a 
wise old man. 

How and where to begin to help, Dorothy 
could not think. That the baby was almost 
starved for proper nourishment and should at 
once be taken care of, Dorothy realized. Yet 
such an air of cheerfulness pervaded the whole 
family, it was hard to believe that any of them 
was starving. The cheerful poor! Dorothy’s 
heart beat high with hope. 

The head of the family made his way to the 
door opening into the main hall, and taking his 


PATHOS AND POVERTY 


219 


hat from a hook, pulled it over his eyes and put 
his hand on the door knob. The little wife, for- 
getting all else — that Dorothy was looking on, 
that her baby was crying, and that something was 
boiling over on the stove — threw herself into the 
giant’s arms. 

“Don’t go out, James!” she cried, pitifully, 
“ don’t go away in the cold. You won’t, dearie; I 
know you won’t! Take off your hat, there’s a 
good man. Don’t go, there’s no work now.” As 
the man opened the door, “ don’t you know how 
we love you, James? Stay home to-night, dearie, 
and rest for to-morrow.” 

“ I’m just goin’ down to the steps,” replied the 
man, releasing the woman’s arms from about his 
neck, “ I’ll be up in a jiffy. I didn’t say I was 
goin’ out. Who heard me say a word about goin’ 
out? ” he appealed to the numerous children play- 
ing about. 

“ You don’t have to,” said Tommy, bravely try- 
ing to keep his lips from quivering, “ you put on 
a hat; didn’t you? And you opened the door; 
didn’t you ? ” and with such proof positive Tommy 
stood facing his father, but his lips would quiver 
in spite of biting them hard with his teeth. 

“ I’m just goin’ down for a breath of air,” he 
explained, as his wife clung desperately to his 
arm, “ just to get the sleep out o’ me eyes, and I’ll 


220 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


run into the grocer’s, and come back with — - 
cakes ! ” he ended, triumphantly. 

Dorothy felt awkward and intrusive. This was 
a family scene that had grown wearisome to the 
children, who took little interest in it, and the 
mother of the brood at last fell away, and allowed 
the man to leave the room. Then Dorothy saw 
the tragedy of the little woman’s life! Glistening 
tears fell thick and fast, and she hugged her baby 
tightly to her breast, murmuring softly in its little 
ears, oblivious to her surroundings. 

“ I’ll buy you food,” said Dorothy, the weary 
voice of the woman bringing tears to her eyes. 
“ Tommy will come with me and we’ll buy every- 
thing you need.” 

Tommy rushed for his hat, and together they 
started down the stairs. Reaching the steps, Dor- 
othy looked about for some sign of Tommy’s 
father, but he must have been seated on another 
porch for the breath of air he was after; the only 
thing on the front steps was Tommy’s yellow dog. 

“ Did you see my father?” said the boy to the 
dog. The dog jumped about madly, licking 
Tommy’s face and hands and barking short, joyful 
doggie greetings. “ He’s seen him, all right,” said 
Tommy. 

“ Did he go to the grocer’s?” he asked of the 
dog. In answer the dog’s ears and tail drooped 


PATHOS AND POVERTY 


221 


sadly, and he licked Tommy’s hand with less joy- 
fulness. 

“ No,” said little Tommy, “ he ain’t gone to the 
grocer’s, he’s always looking for work now, he 
says.” 

“ I’ll see if I can bring him back,” volunteered 
Dorothy. 

The evening crowd on Rivington Street was 
pouring out of the doorways, bitter cold did not 
seem to prevent social gatherings on the corners, 
and the small shops were filled to overflowing with 
loungers. A mission meeting was in progress on 
one of the corners, as Dorothy hurried on, and a 
sweet, girlish voice was exhorting the shivering 
crowd to repent and mend their ways. 


CHAPTER XXIV 


A YOUNG REFORMER 

Close in the wake of Tommy’s father, now re- 
turning, came Dorothy. A large automobile stood 
before one of the rickety buildings, and Dorothy 
just caught sight of a great fur coat and gray hair, 
as the owner of the car came from the building. 
It was Mr. Akerson! His chauffeur opened the 
door of the car, touched his cap, and the auto 
made its way slowly through the street. 

“ There’s the rent collector,” she heard a small 
girl say, as she watched the automobile out of 
sight. “ Ain’t he grand ! ” 

Dorothy wondered, with a shudder, how any 
one could come among these people and take their 
money from them, for housing them in such quar- 
ters ! 

Tommy’s father turned off Rivington Street 
into a narrow lane, little more than an alley, but 
it contained tall buildings nevertheless, with the in- 
evitable fire escape decorating the fronts. He 
paused in front of a pawnbroker’s shop, which 
222 


A YOUNG REFORMER 


223 


was some feet below the level of the sidewalk. 
Dorothy, too, paused, leaning on the iron fence. 
The man was smiling an irresponsible, foolish 
smile as he descended the steps to the pawnshop. 
Dorothy peered down into the badly-lighted shop, 
and saw Tommy’s father lay an ancient watch 
chain, the last remaining article of the glory of 
his young manhood, on the counter. 

The clerk behind the counter threw it back in 
disgust. Again Tommy’s father offered it, but the 
pawnbroker would not take it, for it was evidently 
not worth space in his cases. The man stumbled 
up the steps, and Dorothy met him face to face 
on the top one. 

“ I need a watch chain,” she heard herself say- 
ing in desperation, “ I’ll buy it, please.” 

“You’re the woman as was collecting the rent; 
eh? ” he said. 

“Oh, no,” said Dorothy, smiling brightly, “I 
came to see Tommy’s mother, and his father. I 
wanted to know Tommy’s family.” 

“You wanted to help the boy, maybe?” he 
asked, his attention at last arrested. 

“Yes,” replied Dorothy, eagerly, “I want to 
do something. I have money with me now, and 
I’ll buy the chain.” 

The man suddenly turned and went on ahead. 
He wasn’t a really desperate man, but Dorothy 
did not know just what state it could be called, he 


224 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


simply seemed unable to think quite clearly, and 
after walking one block, Dorothy decided he had 
forgotten her entirely. 

“ I want to buy the groceries,” she said, step- 
ping close to his elbow, “ but there will be so many, 
you’ll have to help carry them home to your wife 
and Tommy.” 

He stared at her sullenly. “ Who told you to 
buy groceries?” he demanded. 

“ Your wife said there was nothing to eat in the 
house,” she answered, “and I would love to buy 
everything you need, just for this once.” 

“ I was just goin’ to get ’em, but there was no 
money. How’s a man goin’ to help his family, 
when they takes his money right outer his poc- 
kets; tell me that, will you?” he demanded of 
Dorothy. She shrank as the huge form towered 
over her, but she answered steadily: 

“ The children are at home, hungry, waiting for 
something to eat — the cakes you promised them, 
you know,” she said with a brave smile. 

“ Well, come along; what are you standin’ here 
for wastin’ time when the children are hungry?” 
he said finally. 

Dorothy laughed quietly, and went along at his 
elbow. Such unreasonable sort of humanity! At 
least, one thing was certain, he would not escape 
from her now, since she was convinced that he 
had really been trying to secure money enough to 


A YOUNG REFORMER 


225 


buy food; if she had to call on the rough-looking 
element on the street to come to her aid she would 
help him. 

In the grocer’s Dorothy found great delight in 
ordering food for a family, and they left the shop, 
loaded down with parcels. The grocer’s clock 
chimed out the hour of seven as they left the store. 

“Aunt Winnie,” thought Dorothy suddenly, 
“ she’ll be worried ill ! I had almost forgotten I 
had a family of my own to be anxious about. But 
they’ll have to wait,” she decided, “they, at least, 
aren’t hungry. They are only worried, and I know 
I’m safe,” she ended, philosophically. 

The yellow dog was in the hall, so were all the 
evil odors, even some of the babies still played 
about, evidently knowing no bedtime, until with 
utter weariness their small limbs refused to move 
another step. And the dog being there meant 
that Tommy had gone ahead and was safe at 
home. 

The upper halls were noisy. The hours after 
supper were being turned into the festive part of 
the day. At Tommy’s door there were no loud 
sounds of mirth, and, opening it quietly, Dorothy 
entered, the man behind. A dim light burned in 
the room, the mother sat asleep in the old velvet 
chair, the smaller children curled up in her lap, 
and she was holding the baby in her arms. Several 
of the children were stretched crosswise on the 


226 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


kitchen cot, and Dorothy decided the remainder 
of the family were in the dark room just off the 
kitchen, and later she discovered that the surplus 
room of the three-room home was rented out, 
to help pay the rent. 

The children quickly scrambled from the cot 
and from the mother’s lap, with wild haste to un- 
wrap the paper parcels. There was little use try- 
ing judiciously to serve the eatables to such hun- 
gry children. It mattered not to Tommy that 
jelly and condensed milk and butter and cheese 
were not all supposed to be eaten on one slice of 
bread. Tommy never before saw these things all 
at one time, and, as far as Tommy knew, he might 
never again have the chance to put so many dif- 
ferent things on one slice. Oranges and bananas 
were unknown luxuries in that family, and the 
little boys eyed them suspiciously, but brave 
Tommy sampling them first, they picked up cour- 
age, and soon there were neither oranges nor 
bananas, only messy little heaps of peeling. 

Dorothy was busy instructing the mother how 
to prepare beef broth, and a nourishing food for 
the baby, when the clock struck eight. 

“Tommy,” said Dorothy, as she busily stirred 
the baby’s food, “ do you know where there is a 
telephone? I must send a message to Aunt Win- 
nie.” 

“ Sure,” said the confident Tommy, “ I know 


A YOUNG REFORMER 227 

all about them things. I often seen people ‘tel- 
phoning,’ ” thus Tommy called it. 

Soon it was agreed that Tommy and his father 
would go and inform Dorothy’s aunt of her where- 
abouts, over the wire. 

It was an anxious fifteen minutes waiting for 
their return. The mother let the steak broil to a 
crisp in her anxiety lest the father slip away from 
Tommy’s grasp, and Dorothy, listening for the 
returning footsteps, had visions of again running 
after Tommy’s father to bring him back to the 
bosom of his family, and allowed the oatmeal to 
boil over. But all was serene when the man re- 
turned safely with the information that: “some 
old feller on the wire got excited, and a lot of 
people all talked at once,” and the only thing he 
was sure of was that they demanded the address 
of his home, which he had given them, not being 
ashamed, as he proudly bragged, for anyone to 
know where he lived. 

“That was father!” said Dorothy. “What 
else did he say? ” 

“ Nothin,,” replied the man, “but the old feller 
was maddern a wet hen! ” 

“Poor father!” thought Dorothy, as she 
handed an apple to one of the small boys. “ No 
doubt I’m very foolish to have done this thing. 
Father will never forgive me for running away 
and staying until this late hour. I really didn’t 


228 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


think about anything, though. It did seem so im- 
portant to bring home the things. I can’t bear to 
think that to-morrow night and the next night and 
the next, Tommy and his mother will be here, 
worrying and cold and hungry.” 

She served each of the children a steaming dish 
of oatmeal, floating in milk, and was surprised to 
find how hungry she was herself. She looked 
critically at the messy table, the cracked bowls, 
and tin spoons, and democratic as she knew her- 
self to be, she couldn’t — simply couldn’t — eat on 
that kitchen-bedroom-living-room table. 

The creaking of the steps and a heavy footfall 
pausing before the door, caused a moment’s hush. 
A knock on the portal and Tommy flew to open 
it. On the threshold stood Major Dale, very 
soldierly and dignified, and he stared into the 
room through the dim light until he discovered 
Dorothy. She ran to him and threw her arms 
about his neck before he could utter a word. 

“ Dear daddy! ” she murmured, so glad to see 
one of her own people, and she realized in that 
instant a sense of comfort and ease to know she 
was well cared for, and had a dear, old dignified 
father. 

“I forgot,” she said, repentantly, “I should 
have been home hours ago, I know, but you must 
hear the whole story, before you scold me.” 

For Major Dale to ever scold Dorothy was 


A YOUNG REFORMER 


229 


among the impossible things, and to have scolded 
her in this instance, the furthest thing from his 
mind. The children stood about gazing at Major 
Dale in awed silence. 

“There are so many, father,” said Dorothy, 
“ to have to live in these close quarters. If they 
could just be transported to a farm, or some place 
out in the open ! ” 

“ Perhaps they could be,” answered Major 
Dale, “but first, I must take you home. We’ll 
discuss the future of Tommy and his family, after 
you are safely back with Aunt Winnie.” 

“ Couldn’t James be placed somewhere in the 
country? I want to know now, before I leave 
them, perhaps never to see them again,” pleaded 
Dorothy to her father. “ Say that you know some 
place for James to work that will take the family 
away from this awful city.” 

“We’ll see, daughter,” said the major kindly. 
“ I guess there is some place for him and the 
little ones.” 

“ He’s so willin’ to work for us,” explained the 
mother, “ and we’d love to be in the country. We 
both grew up in a country town, and I’ll go back 
to-morrow morning. It’s nothin’ but struggling 
here from one year’s end to the other, and we 
grow poorer each year.” 

“ Many a hard day’s work I’ve done on the 
farm,” said the six-feet-four-husband, “ and I’m 


230 


DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


good for many more. I’ll work at anything that’s 
steady, and that’ll help me keep a roof over the 
family.” 

“ I’m so glad to hear you say so ! ” cried Doro- 
thy, in delight. “ I’m sure we will find some work 
in the country for you, and before many weeks 
you can leave this place, and find happiness in a 
busy, country life.” 

On the trip uptown, Dorothy asked about the 
family at home, feeling very much as though she 
had been away on a long trip and anxious to see 
them all once again. 

“ We began to grow worried about an hour be- 
fore the telephone message came,” her father said, 
“ Aunt Winnie had callers, and the arrangements 
were to have them all for dinner and we, of course, 
waited dinner for Dorothy.” He smiled at his 
daughter fondly. “ When you did not appear, the 
anxiety became intense, and the callers are still at 
the apartment anxiously awaiting the return of 
the wanderer.” 

“Who are the callers,” queried Dorothy; “do 
I know them? ” 

“No, just Aunt Winnie’s friends, but they are 
waiting to meet you,” said Major Dale. 

“ Won’t I be glad to get home ! ” exclaimed 
Dorothy, clinging to her father’s arm as they left 
the subway. 


A YOUNG REFORMER 


231 


“ Daughter,” said Major Dale, sternly, “ have 
you really forgotten?” 

“Forgotten what, father?” asked Dorothy in 
surprise. 

“ Forgotten the dinner and dance that is to be 
given in your honor this evening? ” Major Dale 
could just suppress a smile as he tried to ask the 
question with great severity. 

“ Oh, my dear ! ” cried Dorothy, “ I forgot it 
completely! ” 

“ Well,” he said, “you’ll be late for the dinner, 
but they are waiting for you to start the dance.” 

“You see, father,” exclaimed Dorothy, desper- 
ately, “ I am not a girl for society! To think I 
could have forgotten the most important event of 
our whole holiday! But tell me now, daddy, don’t 
you think big James and his family would do nicely 
for old Mr. Hill’s Summer home — they could 
care for it in the Winter, and take charge of the 
farm in the Summer?” 

“ That is just what I thought, but said noth- 
ing, because I did not care to raise false hopes in 
the breast of such a pathetic little woman as 
Tommy’s mother.” 

“ Then, before I join the dancers, I can rest 
easily in my thoughts, that you will take care of 
Tommy’s future, daddy?” Dorothy asked. 

“ My daughter can join the party, and cease 
thinking of little Tommy and the others, because 


232 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 

I’ll take entire charge of them just as soon as we 
return to North Birchland.” 

“I knew it, dear,” said Dorothy, as they en- 
tered the apartment, and she hugged her father 
closely. “You’d rather be down on Rivington 
Street at this moment, seeing the other side of the 
world, just as I would; wouldn’t you, father? ” 

But her father just pinched her pink cheeks and 
told her to run along and be a giddy, charming 
debutante. 


CHAPTER XXV 


THE LOVING CUP 

“Hurry, hurry! ” cried Tavia, hugging Doro- 
thy. “You awful girl! I’ve been doing every- 
thing under the skies to help Aunt Winnie get 
through the dinner, but I absolutely refuse to carry 
along the dance ! How could you place us all in 
such a predicament, you angel of mercy! And to 
leave me to manage those boys in their evening 
dress! They’re too funny for words! Nat posi- 
tively looks weird in his; he insists on pulling down 
the tails, he’s afraid they don’t hang gracefully! 
And Ned is as stiff and awkward as a small boy 
at his first party! ” 

“And Bob?” asked Dorothy, as she arranged 
a band of gold around her hair. 

“Well,” said Tavia meditatively, “there might 
be a more uncomfortable-looking person than Bob 
is at this moment, but I never hope to see one. 
Dorothy, I simply can’t look his way! He’s 
pathetic, he’s all hands, and he’s trying to hide the 
fact, and you never saw anyone having so much 
233 


234 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 

trouble ! In short, I’ve been scrupulously evading 
those very much dressed-up youths. They’ve been 
depending entirely on me to push them forward; 
just at present, with other awkward youths, they 
are holding up the fireplace in the little side room, 
casting fugitive glances toward the drawing room, 
where we’re having the dance! ” Tavia laughed 
and pranced about as she talked. 

“ Why will our boys always act so silly in the 
evening? I really believe if dances were given in 
the morning, directly after breakfast, the girls 
would be dull and listless and the men enchanting,” 
said Dorothy with a laugh, as she stood forth, re- 
splendent in her evening gown of pale blue, ready 
to make a tardy appearance. 

The late arrival of the girl whom all these 
guests were invited to meet, caused a stir of merri- 
ment, which Dorothy met with a certain charm and 
grace, that was her direct inheritance from Aunt 
Winnie. 

The boys emerged from the side room and 
looked around the dancing room, sheepishly. Now, 
in North Birchland and in Dalton, Ned and Nat 
enjoyed a dance, or a party, even if they did show 
a decided tendency to hide behind Dorothy and 
Aunt Winnie. But here in New York they were 
not gallant enough to hide their misery, and the 
comfortable back of Aunt Winnie was not at all 
at their disposal, and Tavia’s back they had given 


THE LOVING CUP 


235 


up some hours since as hopeless, which left Doro- 
thy as the last thin straw ! And Dorothy was too 
much of a wisp of straw to hide such broad shoul- 
ders as Bob’s and Ned’s and entirely too short to 
hide tall Nat! So they clung together in a corner 
until Tavia separated them, giving each young 
man a charming girl to pilot over the slippery 
floor through the maze of a two-step. 

Tavia was bubbling over with mirth. All this 
was as much to her liking — the lovely gowns and 
the laughter, the easy wit and light chatter. 

“ Did you notice that big suit-case in the hall? ” 
whispered Tavia, mysteriously to Dorothy. 

u Yes, indeed,” replied Dorothy. “ Are some 
of these people staying over the week-end? ” 
“Sh-h-h! ” warned Tavia, leading Dorothy to 
a secluded corner behind a tall palm, “ I’m really 
afraid to say it out loud! ” 

“ This isn’t a dark mystery, I hope. Tavia, I’m 
weary of sudden surprises — tell me at once,” de- 
manded Dorothy, laughing at Tavia’s very dra- 
matic manner of being securely hidden from view. 

With one slender finger, Tavia pointed between 
the leaves of the palm to the dancing floor. 

“ Do you see that very picturesque creature in 
green? ” she whispered. 

“ Yes,” said Dorothy breathlessly. 

“Well,” said Tavia relaxing, “that’s her suit- 


236 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 

“ Who is she? ” asked Dorothy, “ and why bring 
her bag here? ” 

“She’s a society girl,” replied Tavia, peering 
out between the palm leaves, “ and she arrived at 
four o’clock this afternoon with a maid and a suit- 
case.” 

“Auntie said nothing about week-end guests,” 
said Dorothy. 

“ Of course she didn’t, and this isn’t a week-end 
guest, this is a society girl! She couldn’t play 
cards at four, and have dinner at seven, and a 
dance at eight-thirty, without a suit-case and a 
maid; could she? How unreasonable you are, 
Dorothy,” exclaimed Tavia, with scorn. 

“ Did she wear something different for each oc- 
casion? ” whispered Dorothy. 

“Yes,” replied Tavia. “Dorothy, doesn’t it 
make you dizzy to think of keeping up an appear- 
ance in that way — packing one’s suit-case every 
morning to attend an evening function ! 

“ And she doesn’t seem to be having an awfully 
good time either,” commented Dorothy. 

“ Everyone is afraid of her — she’s too wonder- 
ful!” laughed Tavia. 

“ How perfectly ridiculous ! ” murmured Doro- 
thy, thinking at that moment of Tommy’s mother, 
dressed in a faded, worn wrapper every hour of 
each day throughout all the months of the year. 


THE LOVING CUP 


237 

“ And that isn’t all,” declared Tavia. “ See that 
perfectly honest-looking person in purple?” 

“Very broad and stout and homely?” asked 
Dorothy. 

“Yes. Well, she appropriated one of our 
cups ! ” 

“ You’re just making these things up ! ” declared 
Dorothy, rising to leave the secluded corner. 

“Really I’m not,” said Tavia earnestly, “the 
purple person took a cup ! ” 

“ But why should she do so?” Dorothy asked, 
not quite believing such a thing possible. 

“ That’s what we don’t know, but Aunt Winnie 
says it’s possibly just a fad, or a hobby, and not 
to notice it — but, I’m going to find out.” 

“ There is so much that is not real, perhaps her 
royal purple velvet gown is no clue to her wealth,” 
said Dorothy. 

“ No, I don’t think her dress is. I’ve decided 
that she needs the cup for breakfast to-morrow 
morning. Anyhow, her maid is in the small bed- 
room, that we’re using for the wraps, and we must 
question her,” declared Tavia. 

“ It’s too perfectly horrid to even think such a 
thing of one of our guests. We must forget the 
matter,” Dorothy said rather sternly. 

“ And you who are so anxious to help the poor 
and needy, forget your own home! ” said Tavia 
reproachfully. “ Suppose that poor lady has no 


238 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 

cup for her coffee? Won’t it be an act of human 
kindness to ascertain that?” 

“Well, I don’t understand why it should hap- 
pen,” said Dorothy, perplexed, “ but I feel, Tavia, 
that you are not in earnest.” 

Coming out from behind the palm, the girls 
were just in time to catch a glimpse of Nat, bow- 
ing and sliding gracefully away from his partner. 
Ned had successfully gotten over the slippery floor 
and stood aimlessly staring into space; and his 
aimless stare touched Dorothy more than his tears 
would have done. Bob met Tavia in the slipperiest 
part of the floor and Tavia, for once in her ac- 
quaintance with Bob, did not feel disdainful of his 
masterly physical strength, for Bob couldn’t man- 
age to cross a waxed floor with as much dexterity 
as could Tavia and actually touched her elbow 
for assistance in guiding him wall-ward. 

“ How much longer does this gaiety continue? ” 
asked Bob. 

“ I fear you’re a sad failure, Bob,” cried Tavia, 
as she led him through the hall to the small room 
at the end of the hall. “ You can’t dance, and you 
won’t sing, and you’re perfectly miserable dressed 
in civilized, evening clothes. You’re just hope- 
less, I’m afraid,” Tavia sighed. 

Their sudden entrance into the cloakroom sur- 
prised the various maids who were yawning and 
sleepy-eyed. The French maid was the only one 


THE LOVING CUP 


239 


who seemed alert, and she was bending attentively 
over something, with her back toward the others. 
Tavia whispered to Bob : 

“ Saunter carelessly past that maid, and tell me 
what she’s doing,” Tavia meanwhile diligently 
looking through a pile of furs and 'wraps. 

“ She seems to be fingering a cup,” reported 
Bob, as he looked at Tavia, questioningly. 

“ Walk past her again and find out more,” com- 
manded Tavia. To herself she murmured: “Men 
are so slow, I’d know in an instant what she’s do- 
ing with that cup, were it possible for me to peer 
about; which it isn’t.” 

“Haven’t an idea what she’s doing,” reported 
Bob again, “ she’s just holding the cup in her 
hand.” 

“ Nonsense,” declared Tavia, “ she must be do- 
ing something. Go right straight back and stand 
around until you find out. I can’t pull these furs 
and wraps about much longer, they’re too heavy ! ” 

When Bob returned again he whispered to 
Tavia, and Tavia’s straight eyebrows flew up to- 
ward her hair with a decidedly “ Ah I told you !” 
expression. 

She rushed to Aunt Winnie and informed her. 

“ You know,” explained Aunt Winnie, “ the cup 
is the one Miss Mingle’s sister painted and sent to 
Dorothy the other day. It was such an odd, ex- 


240 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


quisite pattern I valued it above all my antiques 
and my pottery! ” 

“Well, that’s just what’s she doing,” declared 
Tavia, “ she’s copying the pattern or borrowing it.” 

“ It must indeed be unique when one of our 
guests is driven to such extremes to get a copy of 
it,” said Aunt Winnie. 

The dancers were becoming weary, even the 
lights and decorations began to show signs of wish- 
ing to go out, and most of the guests had bidden 
the hostesses adieu when the stout person in royal 
purple calmly approached Aunt Winnie and Doro- 
thy, holding a cup in her hand: 

“ You’ll pardon the impudence of my maid, I 
know, she has a mania for peculiar patterns on 
china, and she copied one on this cup. You don’t 
mind at all? ” she asked sweetly. 

“ It was painted for my niece by a very feeble 
lady,” explained Mrs. White. “We value it 
highly.” 

“ You should value it highly,” purred the stout 
person. “ So far as I know there are only three 
cups of that pattern in the world to-day. One is 
in an English museum, and the other two have 
been lost. Those two cups would be worth a for- 
tune to the holder, the collectors would pay almost 
any price for them.” She was plainly an enthusiast 
on the subject of old china. “ But your cup is not 
original, it is merely a copy, but we knew it in- 


THE LOVING CUP 241 

stantly. You’ll forgive me, won’t you? ” she asked, 
sweetly. 

“ Miss Mingle’s sister is the owner of the other 
two cups, Auntie,” gasped Dorothy, as the stout 
person in purple departed. “ Mrs. Bergham’s hus- 
band was an artist and collector, and he left Mrs. 
Bergham all his pictures and art treasures. I just 
raved with delight over those two cups, the day 
we called, and she very amiably sent me an exact 
duplicate.” 

“ Then there may be a fortune awaiting little 
Miss Mingle,” exclaimed Tavia. “ I thought 
her home was terribly crowded with artistic-look- 
ing objects and unusual adornments for folk in 
moderate circumstances.” 

“ Doubtlessly, the sentimental nature of Mrs. 
Bergham would not entertain such an idea as dis- 
posing of her treasures for mere lucre,” said Mrs. 
White, laughingly. 

“Perhaps they do not know their value,” rea- 
soned Dorothy, as the guests prepared to leave. 

“ We’ll find out more from the stout person, and 
bring an art collector to call upon Mrs. Bergham, 
and thus give those two struggling women some 
chance to enjoy a little comfort,” said Major 
Dale. 


CHAPTER XXVI 


A NEW COLLECTOR 

“My poor, dear husband,” sighed Mrs. Berg- 
ham, “ he told me to never part with those two 
cups, in fact, never to sell anything of his unless I 
could get his catalogue price. But it was a hard 
struggle, and I did love everything so much, that — * 
well, I simply did not bother about selling.” 

“ I can hardly believe those old cups can be so 
valuable,” Miss Mingle exclaimed, as she handled 
them. 

“Well,” said Dorothy, as she and Mrs. White 
and Tavia prepared to leave after their short call, 
“ we will have a collector call to place a value on 
all your antiques, if you wish. Of course, it will 
be hard to part with them, but when the financial 
end is considered ” 

“ My dear,” said Mrs. Bergham, with more ani- 
mation than she had yet shown, “ you don’t know 
what it will mean to us to have enough money to go 
’round ! And to have my little boys with me again, 
and sister relieved of the awful strain! ” 

242 


THE LOVING CUP 


243 


“ Wasn’t it lovely for the stout guest in purple 
to kindly borrow the cup ! ” exclaimed Tavia. 

“And for you to follow up the clue,” said Mrs. 
White, “when Dorothy and I were too embar- 
rassed to know what to do ! ” 

“ Oh, by the way,” continued Mrs. White, 
“ about an agent for this house, I thought — don’t 
be offended dear Mrs. Bergham — but I thought 
you might like to take charge of this property, with 
plenty of assistants of course, and to have your 
commission, the same as paying a real estate agent. 
Don’t say you won’t help me ! I really need some- 
one right on the premises.” 

“ Certainly,” promptly replied Miss Mingle, 
“sister could take care of it. You see, sister has 
lost all confidence in herself and her ability — we 
have had such troublous times for five years past !” 

“ This matter was even more serious than I 
dared say,” exclaimed Mrs. White, referring to 
the apartment-house trouble. “You know the 
house originally belonged to my husband’s ances- 
tors, it was one of the old Dutch mansions here in 
New York, and as the years passed, it was re- 
modeled several times, finally coming to me, with 
the proviso that it be again remodeled into a good 
paying apartment house, as an investment for the 
boys when they are of age. The income, as you 
know, has barely kept the expenses covered, and I 


244 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 

began to fear that my boys would come of age 
without the money they should have.” 

u I did not know that,” exclaimed Dorothy. ”So 
we really saved Nat and Ned from financial dis- 
asters; didn’t we?” 

“ Well, we don’t know yet, whether we will ever 
receive the money Mr. Akerson took,” said Mrs. 
White, gravely. “ But we will know just as soon 
as we return home. At any rate, a future is as- 
sured the boys, now that we have taken the collect- 
ing away from Mr. Akerson.” 

Arriving home, the girls found Major Dale 
and the boys anxiously waiting for them. 

“ Well, we’re safe at last,” cried Ned, “ thanks 
to the courageous efforts of two little girls ! ” 

“We bow before two small thoughtful heads,” 
said Major Dale, with a laugh, “ while we men 
were tiying to think out a way, the girls rushed 
ahead and beat us ! ” 

“ So it’s settled? ” said Aunt Winnie, anxiously. 

“ Every penny,” exclaimed Major Dale. 

“When we are of age,” declared Ned, “the 
girls shall have all their hearts desire; eh, Nat?” 

“Yes, because without Dorothy’s and Tavia’s 
courage and thoughtfulness and quick wits, we 
boys would have had little to begin life with, in all 
probability.” 

“And girls,” said Aunt Winnie, “the sweetest 
memories of your trip to New York City will be 


A NEW COLLECTOR 245 

that you not only had a lovely good time, but 
helped wherever you saw that help was needed.” 

“ So that,” cried Major Dale, “ Dorothy in the 
city was as happy as everywhere else ! ” 

“Happier, Daddy,” cried his daughter, with 
her arms around his neck. M Much happier, for I 
helped someone.” 

“As you always do,” murmured Tavia. “I 
wonder whom you will help next; or what you will 
do? Dorothy Dale! If only I could have the 
faculty of falling into things, straightening them 
out, and making everybody live happier ever after, 
as you do, I’m sure I would be the happiest person 
alive.” 

“ But you do help,” said Dorothy, with a sly 
look at Bob. 

“ Indeed she ” began that well-built young 

man. 

“ Let’s tell ghost stories ! ” proposed Tavia sud- 
denly, with an obvious desire to change the topic. 
“ It’s nice of you to say that, Doro,” she went on, 
“ but you know I do make a horrible mess of every- 
thing I touch. But I do wonder what you’ll do 
next? ” 

And what Dorothy did may be learned by read- 
ing the next volume of this series to be called, 
“Dorothy Dale’s Promise.” In that we will 
meet her again, and Tavia also, for the two were 


246 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY 


too close friends now to let ordinary matters sep- 
arate them. 

“Come on, girls! ” proposed Bob, a few days 
later, as he, with the other boys, called at the 
apartment. “We’ve got the best scheme ever! ” 

“ What is it? ” asked Tavia suspiciously. 

“ A sleighing party — a good old-fashioned one, 
like in the country. We’ll go up to the Bronx, 
somewhere, have a supper and a dance, and ” 

“We really ought to be packing to go home,” 
said Dorothy, but not as if she half meant it. 

“Fudge! ” cried Nat. “You can pack in half 
an hour.” 

“ Much you know about it,” declared Tavia. 

But the boys prevailed, and that night, with 
Mrs. White and the major, a merry little party 
dashed over the white snow, to the accompaniment 
of jingling bells, and under a silvery moon. And 
now, for a time, we will take leave of Dorothy 
Dale. 























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